NEXT.io News

📉 SEGG Media has launched legal action against a short seller which claimed the company was running a share price manipulation scheme. SEGG filed a $20m lawsuit against White Diamond Research and its principal Adam Gefvert, alleging the pair published deliberately false and disparaging statements about the company. The rebranded Lottery.com business says its stock fell more than 50% following the publication of the report on 10 June. Sponsored message Connect now with the #1 Casino Game Aggregator

🎰 Each month, Australian bookmaking legend Tom Waterhouse publishes a newsletter from Waterhouse VC, his gaming and wagering-focused venture capital fund. “The opportunity is not to make land-based casinos look like online casinos. It is to add a digital layer around the physical experience,” writes Waterhouse. “That is where the supplier value sits, and where Waterhouse VC is focused: backing infrastructure that helps regulated operators compete.” Sponsored message Multiply your reach. Tap into NEXT.io Media.

A message to our community. Our hearts are with everyone affected by the earthquakes in Venezuela. Two powerful earthquakes have caused serious damage across Gran Caracas, La Guaira and surrounding regions. Families are facing damaged homes, power cuts, disrupted access to hospitals and the fear of ongoing aftershocks. This is close to many people across the NEXT.io community. We know colleagues, friends, partners and families have deep ties to Venezuela, and we want to help direct support where it is needed. The Venezuelan Red Cross is on the ground supporting search and rescue, helping the injured and assessing urgent needs. If you are able to donate, please use the official IFRC donation page here: https://donate.redcrossredcrescent.org/ifrc/venezuela-earthquake/~my-donation Venezuela se levanta. Venezuela rises. Ayuda hoy. Reconstruyamos juntos. Help today. Let’s rebuild together. Thank you to everyone who donates, shares or keeps the people of Venezuela in your thoughts.

🚨 Exclusive: Black market ‘Bellingham Bet’ ads analysed for links to Premier League sponsor An unregulated online gambling brand advertised in the UK via ‘Bellingham Bet’ ads appears to use technical and licensing infrastructure that overlaps with those of a major gambling operator and Premier League football sponsor, NEXT.io has learned. After an investigation, NEXT.io identified a number of technical and licensing overlaps between the brand promoted via the ‘Bellingham Bet’ ads, and systems associated with a major international gambling operator that sponsors a Premier League football team. Sponsored message Want to make business in LatAm and Emerging European markets? Ask us about the NEXT Retreats.

🤔 In research funded by the statutory levy, the Gambling Commission (UKGC) has investigated the lived experiences of affected others of gambling harms. The findings were derived from 25 adults across Great Britain who all had lived experience of being adversely affected by someone else’s gambling in the past 12 months. Interviews with participants suggested that safer gambling tools are “encountered almost exclusively at crisis point by the affected other,” and that because these tools require the person gambling to initiate and maintain them, the structural framework of safer gambling intervention is not well set-up to accommodate for affected others.https://next.io/news/news/ukgc-safer-gambling-tools-dont-accommodate-affected-others/ Sponsored message Connect now with the #1 Casino Game Aggregator

✋ Fanatics Sportsbook is to begin suspending or permanently banning customers who abuse athletes, coaches or officials on social media, as part of a new industry initiative designed to identify and restrict so-called ‘bad actors’. From the start of the 2026 NFL season, Fanatics will work with integrity specialist IC360 and social media intelligence provider Signify Group to identify customers who post abusive or threatening content across major social media platforms. Individuals classified as bad actors will be added to a database that enables participating sportsbooks to suspend or restrict accounts. Fanatics Sportsbook is the first legal sports betting member of the ‘Bad Actor Programme’. Sponsored message Multiply your reach. Tap into NEXT.io Media.

👀 The UK Gambling Commission is inviting industry stakeholders to highlight rules and requirements they believe could be simplified without weakening consumer protections. From today, the regulator is inviting evidence on which existing requirements could be streamlined or removed. The process will run through to 25 September, after which the Commission will consider feedback before issuing a response. The process will work rather differently to standard, Commission-led consultations. It will be up to respondents to suggest areas for improvement, rather than comment on proposals from the regulator. Respondents must support any proposals with evidence of the burden they currently create. Sponsored message Want to make business in LatAm and Emerging European markets? Ask us about the NEXT Retreats.

🇬🇧 Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) CEO Grainne Hurst has responded to this week’s discourse on the UK’s black market, reiterating that it “is not a marginal issue.” Writing in PoliticsHome, Hurst did not refute a recent report claiming illegal operators make up less than 10% of the overall online UK gambling industry, but she did reject the idea that this means the black market argument is overstated. She wrote: “Even if that figure is accepted, it should alarm everyone involved in this debate.” The BGC CEO stated that “whether the black market accounts for 5%, 9% or more,” policymakers must act “before it grows larger still.” She also reminded readers of the difference between legal and illegal operators, saying: “One contributes to society through jobs, tax revenues and support for sport. The other simply extracts money from British consumers while avoiding responsibility.” Sponsored message Connect now with the #1 Casino Game Aggregator

🇵🇱Entain has taken the first step towards exiting its Central and Eastern European (CEE) joint venture by agreeing to sell a 20% stake to existing partner EMMA Capital. The FTSE 100 gambling group will receive approximately €425m (£366m) from the transaction, including €395m payable on completion. The deal is expected to complete in Q4 2026 and would value Entain CEE at around €2.1bn (£1.9bn), equivalent to roughly 10 x EBITDA. Sponsored message Multiply your reach. Tap into NEXT.io Media.

💰 Predictive intelligence company Ibex.ai has rebranded as Axom and announced a $2.4m funding commitment from existing investor Capricorn Group. Axom specialises in predictive intelligence technology designed to help gambling operators identify player behaviours, forecast future outcomes and optimise customer engagement through AI-powered decision-making. The company said the new funding will support the next stage of its growth strategy, with a focus on advancing towards a more autonomous offering. Funds will also help to expand the technical capabilities across both Axom Gaming and Axom Engage, its gaming and non-gaming divisions, respectively. Sponsored message Want to make business in LatAm and Emerging European markets? Ask us about the NEXT Retreats.

🤔 Entain has reportedly been considering the future of its CEE business. Speaking to NEXT.io, David Brohan illustrated the key drivers behind a potential sale. Brohan is head of gaming research at Goodbody, and though he recognises that the impact of tax rises in the UK is a significant factor, it is just one of many in his opinion. For him, any sale is likely to be “quite straightforward” and “well-received.” While the UK’s increased tax burden appears to be the most obvious reason for Entain to make a consolidation play, Brohan thinks that there are a number of reasons why the sale of the CEE business just seems rational. Part of that is the technical standing of the unit: “CEE sits on its own tech stack, making a sale quite straightforward," he said. Sponsored message Connect now with the #1 Casino Game Aggregator

🤝 Will Mace is going to lead a research initiative with Mindway AI to determine how operators can best engage with player risk once it’s identified. The AI-led supplier has taken aim at thus far insufficient attempts to tackle the problem of harms intervention. Formerly group player safety director at evoke, Mace will now join Mindway as head of strategic programmes. The company is hoping to “write the book” on effective interventions. Mindway AI CEO Rasmus Kjaergaard said: “Will Mace’s phenomenal track record across major operators, regulatory working groups, and clinical support networks gives us the perfect blend of insight to build a full-service safer gambling ecosystem.” Sponsored message Multiply your reach. Tap into NEXT.io Media.

🇳🇱 Dutch gambling trade body VNLOK said the country’s regulated market is at a “dangerous crossroads”, arguing that a new report showing gambling tax increases failed to meet revenue targets should prompt immediate action. While the association welcomed the publication of the report, it criticised the government’s response. It pointed out that the only follow-up measure currently proposed is a further evaluation in 2027. “The Dutch regulated market is at a dangerous crossroads. The combination of high tax pressure, high regulatory burdens and the risk of additional over-regulation will cause irreversible damage,” VNLOK said. Sponsored message Want to make business in LatAm and Emerging European markets? Ask us about the NEXT Retreats.

🇬🇧 Great Britain’s Gambling Commission has ordered Stakelogic to pay £122,835 after ruling the games developer breached regulations by running online slot games too fast. UK-licensed companies must ensure a minimum time gap of 2.5 seconds between spins on slot games. However, the Commission was made aware that Stakelogic’s ‘Tiger Temple 88’ game had just 1.97 seconds between spins. Sponsored message Connect now with the #1 Casino Game Aggregator

🚨 Multiple UK gambling charities are still to receive their statutory levy funding from the government, months after the conclusion of the selection process. Prevention-focused charities in the gambling harms space transitioned to a new funding model on 1 April that included a competitive application process for the £12m pot. But, close to three months later, several charities are yet to receive a penny of the money, NEXT.io has learned. Other charities received their funding only relatively recently, and there have been continuing delays around certain technical aspects of the finalised bids, such as setting KPIs to assess the work. Sponsored message Multiply your reach. Tap into NEXT.io Media.

🇪🇸 Bettors in Spain are set to be restricted by new deposit limits that span all licensed operators in the country. The law was introduced by royal decree, and has imposed a daily limit of €700, a weekly limit of €1,750, and a four-week limit of €3,300. Previously, deposit limits of €600 daily, €1,500 weekly, €3,000 monthly were in place for individual operators. On Tuesday 23 June, the government approved the new joint deposit framework, which prevents players from increasing their deposit allowance by opening accounts with different operators. Sponsored message Want to make business in LatAm and Emerging European markets? Ask us about the NEXT Retreats.

🇬🇧 New research using open banking data suggests the trigger point for financial risk assessments may be catching too many low-risk gamblers. The research concluded that the UK's £150 net-deposit threshold for online gambling financial vulnerability checks places significantly more weight on harm prevention than on protecting the freedoms of consumers who gamble safely. The study analysed open banking data from 424 UK gamblers, combining their transaction records with self-reported Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) scores. The findings showed that over a 12-month period, roughly two-thirds of at-risk gamblers and nearly half of those considered low- or no-risk crossed the £150 threshold at least once, suggesting the current trigger point captures a substantial proportion of people not experiencing significant gambling harm. Sponsored message Connect now with the #1 Casino Game Aggregator

🇰🇪 Kenya’s gambling operators face a 30 June deadline to secure their licences under a new regulatory regime, amid a legal challenge to the leadership of the authority overseeing the process. The deadline marks the culmination of the most significant regulatory transition Kenya’s gambling sector has seen in more than half a century, a shift NEXT.io examined in depth in its recent report, NEXT iGaming Market in Focus: Kenya, produced in partnership with Sportingtech. In February, Peter Maina Karimi was appointed as the director general of Kenya’s new gambling regulator to oversee the transition and the licensing regime that comes with it. It is that appointment that is now being contested. Sponsored message Multiply your reach. Tap into NEXT.io Media.

🇬🇪 Georgia’s parliament is considering legislation that would create a dedicated licensing regime for online gambling operators targeting foreign customers, in a move that could lead to the country becoming an international gambling hub. Under the proposal, initiated by members of the ruling Georgian Dream party, lawmakers would introduce three new, five-year permit categories covering online casino, internet slots and sports betting services. These would be aimed exclusively at foreign players, GBC said. Georgian citizens would be prohibited from accessing the platforms. Operators that secure a licence would be required to conduct their activities through dedicated domains. Permits would carry an annual fee of GEL100,000 (€33,372). Sponsored message Want to make business in LatAm and Emerging European markets? Ask us about the NEXT Retreats.

🇳🇱 A rise in gambling tax rates in the Netherlands generated just €2m in additional revenue in 2025, well short of the €108m target set out by policymakers, according to a joint report from the Ministry of Finance and Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA). According to the report, gambling tax receipts totalled €1.036bn during 2025. This was only marginally higher than €1.034bn in 2024, despite the tax rate increasing from 30.5% to 34.2% at the start of last year. A further rise to 37.8% came into effect on 1 January 2026. The report said the tax increase had failed to achieve its intended objective, with additional revenues falling short of expectations after the tax base declined. This, the report added, was possibly in part as a result of the higher rates. Sponsored message Connect now with the #1 Casino Game Aggregator