World News.Week 31

📺 Stake Releases a New Series of Ad Campaigns

Crypto casino Stake has launched three promotional videos for games from its Stake Originals lineup — Mines, Drill, and Pump. Each ad illustrates the game mechanics through everyday situations while maintaining the brand’s signature creative style. Read more

🏏 Parimatch Sports Expands into International Cricket

Parimatch Sports has become an official co-sponsor of the upcoming cricket series between India and Sri Lanka, scheduled to take place from August 15 to 27. The brand will receive exposure during Sony Sports Network broadcasts, advertising placements at the stadiums, and opportunities to run promotional activities for fans. Read more

🌐 Google Tightens Gambling Advertising Rules

Starting August 26, Google will introduce updated certification requirements for gambling advertising on Google Ads. Key changes include:

a separate application for each country;
mandatory confirmation of a valid local licence;
new requirements for landing pages;
a ban on combining online gambling and social casino certifications within one account;
mandatory recertification whenever account or business details change. Read more

⭐️ Luka Modrić Becomes the Face of Kerma Games

Game provider Kerma Games has signed a partnership agreement with AC Milan midfielder Luka Modrić. The footballer will serve as a brand ambassador and appear in the company’s upcoming gaming projects. He is the first athlete to join the developer’s roster of celebrity partners. Read more

⚠ Uruguay Warns of a Fake Online Casino

Lottery operator La Banca de Quinielas has issued a warning about a fraudulent advertising campaign promoting a non-existent platform called La Banca Casino. Scammers are using the company’s branding to promote unlicensed operators and obtain users’ personal information. Read more

⚽ Juventus Announces Partnership with bet365 Scores

Juventus Football Club has signed an agreement with the bet365 Scores app, which has become the club’s official sports infotainment partner in Italy. The service has previously partnered with several Serie A clubs and continues to expand its football sponsorship portfolio. Read more

World News.Week 30

🤝 Linebet Extends Partnership with AS Monaco

The bookmaker has retained its status as the club’s official regional betting partner across Africa and the MENA region. The companies will continue running joint marketing campaigns aimed at increasing brand awareness and engaging football fans. Read more

🌐 Google Expands Gambling Advertising Opportunities in Programmatic

Starting August 10, Google will remove the mandatory gambling advertiser certification requirement for the Authorized Buyers channel and allow ads to be shown in 37 additional markets, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, and several other countries. The changes will not affect Google Ads, where certification requirements will become stricter from September. Read more

🎉 Stake Showcases Star-Studded Party Held for the 2026 World Cup Final

The crypto casino published a video from The Finale, an event held on the day of the FIFA World Cup final. Guests included Shakira, Central Cee, Swae Lee, Jake Paul, Jordan Clarkson, and other celebrities. The company joked that Stake’s party was more entertaining than the final itself. Read more

🥊 Rainbet Signs UFC Champion Justin Gaethje

The crypto casino announced Justin Gaethje as its new brand ambassador. The American fighter previously partnered with Duelbits and, ahead of the official announcement, had already appeared at a UFC Fight Night event wearing a shirt featuring the Rainbet logo, gaining exposure during the television broadcast. Read more

World News.Week 29

🇧🇷 CreedRoomz and Ronaldinho have launched a branded live roulette game. The provider introduced Kickoff Roulette Ronaldinho, featuring an RTP of 97−97.3%, English and Portuguese localization, and a studio designed to recreate the atmosphere of street football. Its main feature is a set of random multipliers ranging from x50 to x700, assigned to between one and five numbers in each round. This is already at least the fifth Ronaldinho-branded game released in recent months. Read more

🤖 Kalshi has become OpenAI’s first partner among prediction market platforms. According to The New York Times, ChatGPT has started using Kalshi odds to display the probabilities of match outcomes during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. OpenAI emphasizes that the service does not allow users to place bets, and the data is shown for informational purposes only. Read more

⚾ Bryce Harper has denied any partnership with FanDuel. The baseball player said he was unaware that a Cameo greeting he had recorded was used to retain a VIP customer with a gambling addiction. To support his statement, he published a screenshot of the order showing that the video had been requested as a standard personal greeting, with no mention of commercial use. Read more

🏀 Superbet will become Olympiacos’ title sponsor until 2032. The financial terms have not been officially disclosed, although Greek media previously valued the agreement at approximately € 43 million. Since entering the Greek market, the operator has been actively expanding its sports sponsorship portfolio and already works with several football clubs and national competitions. Read more

💰 Stake has disclosed statistics from its VIP program. Company co-founder Ed Craven said that since 2019, the operator has paid more than $ 14 billion in bonuses to premium customers. The largest share came from personalized rewards issued by VIP managers, totaling $ 6.39 billion, along with coupons, repeat-deposit bonuses, rakeback payments, and tournament prizes. Read more

🔄 Google is tightening its rules for gambling advertising. From September 14, certification will become mandatory for all advertisers in the Gambling & Games category, while accounts with a history of violations may lose their eligibility to advertise. In addition, from August 1, the Chrome Web Store will ban extensions that allow users to trade on real-money prediction markets. Read more

World News.Week 28

🎰 Stake has released an exclusive Jean-Claude Van Damme slot developed by The Game Valley. The game was created in collaboration with the Belgian actor, runs on Stake Engine and offers a maximum win of up to x25,000. Read more

🇧🇷 Superbet voided all long-term bets on Brazil to win the 2026 World Cup and automatically refunded players after the team lost 1−2 to Norway in the Round of 16. According to Klavi, the number of Brazilian bettors during the tournament was 14% below pre-tournament levels, while advertising campaigns were more effective at reactivating existing users than attracting new ones. Read more

📊 The illegal online gambling market in the EU reached € 91.6 billion in 2025, up by around 14%. According to the European Casino Association, unlicensed operators cost EU member states € 22.9 billion in lost tax revenue, while more than 6,200 illegal platforms are currently targeting European users. Read more

📺 According to iGN, citing an anonymous source, Soft2Bet is ending operations for players from Greece, France and Germany and does not plan to return to these markets. However, a public discussion on Affiliate Guard Dog only confirms the closure of registrations for users from Germany, while one forum participant described the restriction as temporary. Read more

🐶 A video is going viral on social media showing Drake hitting a max win in Pragmatic Play’s Starlight Princess slot on Stake. Accounts sharing the clip are calling it the largest win in online slots history and estimating it at $ 30 million. However, the final amount, session date and bet size are not shown, so the claim remains unverified. Read more

World News.Week 27

📡 Polymarket has found itself at the center of a new scandal. According to the WSJ, the platform, through a contractor, funded the promotion of videos by bloggers, including Adin Ross, which discussed trading using insider information and market manipulation. The company stated that such activity is prohibited and promised to audit its advertising campaigns. Read more

🇯🇵 Prediction market platforms are gaining popularity in Japan. Local startups are bypassing the gambling ban by using virtual points instead of cash bets. For successful predictions, users receive gift cards and bonuses. The largest platform has already attracted around one million monthly users. Read more

🚨 Polymarket has confirmed a phishing attack. Due to the compromise of a third-party frontend component, attackers stole around $ 3 million from platform users. The company fixed the issue and said it is working on compensating the victims. Read more

🏟 Kalshi is entering the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The platform has partnered with ADI Predictstreet, the official prediction markets partner of the FIFA World Cup. The companies will jointly launch a product for the tournament and gain shared visibility across stadiums, broadcasts, and digital channels. Read more

🤝 Stake is expanding its ambassador team. Skateboarders Nyjah Huston and Chris Joslin, as well as UFC fighter Tracy Cortez, have become the new faces of the crypto casino. The financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. Read more

World News.Week 26

🤑 1win signs Luis Suárez

Operator 1win has announced a partnership with Inter Miami and Uruguay national team striker Luis Suárez. The footballer posted a link to the brand on Instagram and listed himself as a 1win expert. The contract covers the 2026 World Cup period with an option to extend, while the value of the deal has not been disclosed. Read more

😈 Hackers place casino ads on a British council website

The website of Old Catton Parish Council near Norwich was hacked: its contact page was replaced with an Indonesian affiliate landing page promoting online casinos and explicit content. The page was quickly removed, and an investigation is ongoing. Read more

⚽ Stake stages a football stunt at 3 km altitude

Crypto casino Stake released a video featuring an improvised football match on a platform suspended at around 3,000 meters above the ground. A similar extreme format was previously launched by 1win Extreme, which staged a match at about 1,000 meters. Read more

🕯 Teimuraz Ugulava, founder of Aviator Studio and Adjara Group, has passed away

Entrepreneur Teimuraz Ugulava, founder of several well-known industry projects, including links to the Aviator brand and former ownership of Adjarabet, has died at the age of 56 after a long illness. Read more

😏 Polymarket accused of creating fake winning videos

The Wall Street Journal reported that prediction market platform Polymarket used campaigns with content creators in which videos imitating major wins were produced through lookalike websites. Following the investigation, some materials were deleted, while related accounts began facing restrictions on TikTok and YouTube. Read more

📱 Meta develops Arena prediction markets app

Meta is preparing a standalone app to compete with Polymarket and Kalshi. According to preliminary information, the app may initially use game points instead of real money, although a transition to cash-based formats may be possible in the future. Read more

🎱 ToonieBet becomes partner of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Canadian iGaming operator ToonieBet, part of Soft2Bet, has signed a multi-year agreement with CFL club the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The brand will receive visibility at Tim Hortons Field, including naming rights for a premium area. Read more

World News.Week 25

⭐️ Messi becomes the face of Kalshi’s advertising campaign

Argentina national team captain Lionel Messi appeared in a new campaign for prediction market platform Kalshi. The player published a promotional post on social media linked to a prize giveaway from the platform. Read more

⚽ Soft2Bet launches MEGA Shoot football mechanic for the 2026 World Cup

Soft2Bet has added a new gamification module to its MEGA lineup — MEGA Shoot, timed to coincide with the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The mechanic is built around a penalty shootout series of up to five shots: the player acts both as the shooter and the goalkeeper, choosing the direction of the shot and the dive.

The module has already been launched across Betinia, Swiper, Campobet, ToonieBet and Elabet in Denmark, Greece, Mexico, Romania, the United States (New Jersey) and Canada.

📊 Early results:

31.9% engagement among active players
71.2% of users proceeded to the second match

🔍 Entain uncovers network promoting illegal gambling to young people in the UK

Entain has published research on coordinated promotion of unlicensed operators among audiences aged 14−25.

Key findings:

🔴 72 cases of promotion involving more than 30 illegal brands, including Stake, Rainbet and Duelbits

🔴 activity identified across Kick, Instagram, X, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Twitch

🔴 some World Cup 2026-related content was created even before the tournament began

Among those involved in the promotion were:

Stake ambassadors Sergio Agüero, Eden Hazard and Iker Casillas
influencers and streamers combining gambling content with lifestyle promotion
football club fan accounts that published identical betting predictions without disclosing commercial ties

🏏 Play971 names Brett Lee as its first ambassador

The UAE’s first licensed iGaming operator, Play971, has signed former Australian national cricket team player Brett Lee as the brand’s first official ambassador. Read more

✈ Stake releases promo featuring Indian rapper Karan Aujla

Crypto casino Stake has released a video featuring rapper Karan Aujla: the artist flies on a Stake-branded private jet and places a bet on UFC fighter Alex Pereira through the operator’s platform. Read more

World News.Week 24

🔮🇺🇸 Prediction markets platform Kalshi released an advertising video featuring Timothée Chalamet. The campaign is built around a series of everyday scenes with native integration of the platform’s branding, and the video also appeared on the actor’s Instagram profile.

🎬 The project was directed by Linus Sandgren, the Oscar-winning cinematographer behind La La Land. Read more

🤩💧 Rapper 6ix9ine posted an advertising video for crypto casino Rainbet on X, appearing in a Mexico national football team jersey with the operator’s branding. In the caption, the artist jokingly compared himself to Cristiano Ronaldo.

🎬 In the video, the rapper delivers a motivational voice-over about believing in yourself and working on yourself every day, set against footage of football training. At the end, an alarm clock rings, 6ix9ine wakes up next to a pizza and places a bet on Mexico’s national team to win via Rainbet. Read more

🤙🫸 Provider Booming Games, together with legendary footballer Ronaldinho, released the slot Ronaldinho’s Streetball Bonanza (RTP 96%, MaxWin x6500, high volatility), timed to coincide with the 2026 World Cup.

🎰 The bonus round is triggered by landing four or more scatters or through the random filling of the Street Cred Meter. Previously, in collaboration with the Brazilian footballer, the company had already released the slot Ronaldinho Spins and the instant game Ronaldinho Scores Shoot & Win. Read more

🎮🥩 Crypto casino Stake released the exclusive game Drop the Boss 2: Maralago (RTP 96.15%) by provider Mirror Image Gaming, styled after GTA VI. The project is based on an instant-game mechanic where caricature versions of Donald Trump and JD Vance fall from a helicopter, designed in the aesthetic of the animated series Rick and Morty.

🔍 In addition to the base game, users can access drone controls and extra modes, including a slot, wheel of fortune, plinko and golf. The “Bomber” and “Space” bonus modes increase the falling height. The game also features caricatures of Nicolás Maduro, Bill Gates and George W. Bush. Costume changes and radio station switching are unlocked as players progress. Read more

World News.Week 23

🎬 Netflix will produce the thriller The Big Fix about an international match-fixing network. The film will star Mark Wahlberg, Riz Ahmed, Natalie Dormer, and Susan Lynch. It is based on the true story of former FIFA Head of Security Chris Eaton. 🎥🎭 Read more

🔮 Polymarket has accused Kalshi of corporate espionage. According to the New York Post, the company compiled a dossier featuring examples of suspiciously similar products and marketing campaigns allegedly copied by its competitor. 🕵️‍♂️📉 Read more

🤯 Model Bonnie Blue has once again found herself at the center of controversy following a provocative live stream hosted by crypto casino Duel, which attracted hundreds of thousands of views across social media platforms. 🔥📱 Read more

🥊 UFC champion Ilia Topuria has become the new face of 1win. The operator unveiled the partnership in a new promotional campaign. 🏆🎬 Read more

❌ Legendary game provider Igrosoft is shutting down its operations. The company is best known for iconic slot titles such as Crazy Monkey, Fruit Cocktail, Resident, and Garage. 🎰🚫 Read more

World News.Week 21

📱⚽ An app using the name and logo of prediction markets platform ADI Predictstreet has appeared on Google Play.

The app redirects users to a landing page of the unlicensed iGaming operator Spinkings, according to Josimar. ADI Predictstreet is FIFA’s official prediction markets partner for the 2026 World Cup. Read more

⚽1️⃣ Operator 1xBet published the second episode of its animated 2026 World Cup series on X — this time featuring the national teams of Spain and Portugal.

In the Spain video, Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal appears in a scene with an octopus — a reference to Paul the Octopus and the 2010 World Cup. In the Portugal video, Cristiano Ronaldo receives a star on the Walk of Fame, while Rafael Leão raps under the alias WAY 45. Read more

🆕🙉 On May 18, provider Pragmatic Play released the live game Seotda Baccarat — a mix of classic baccarat and the Korean card game Seotda.

The game uses a 20-card Hwatu deck: the cards represent the months from January to October and each has its own point value. Players bet on one of two sides, with the winning side determined by the stronger two-card combination. Read more

World News.Week 20

🕷 Polymarket becomes the official partner of Serie A in the US

Polymarket has received exclusive status as the prediction platform for Italian Serie A match outcomes in the US. The deal strengthens the presence of prediction markets in the US sports ecosystem and opens new advertising and product opportunities for Polymarket. Read more

🔥 Government Wi-Fi in the Philippines starts blocking illegal gambling

The restrictions were introduced under the “Free Wi-Fi for All” program. The goal is to limit access to illegal operators through public networks. Read more

🆕🙉 Pragmatic Play releases Triple Pot Plinko Hercules slot (RTP 96.55%)

Released on May 14. The slot is designed in an Ancient Greek style and features a Plinko-based bonus round, which is also available as a separate game mode. Colored scatters randomly trigger bonuses:

blue — up to 20 Plinko balls;
red — multipliers of up to x100 for random balls;
green — increases the basket multipliers at the bottom up to x100. Read more

🆕🥩 Crypto casino Stake releases multiplayer game Zoo (Stake Originals)

Released on May 13. Zoo is a multiplayer game with adjustable volatility, 98% RTP, and a maximum win of 1,000x. The mechanics combine roulette and Sic Bo: there is a circular track with 20 sectors, 6 animal types with different frequencies and multipliers, and the result is determined by three random sectors. Read more

🔮🤔 DraftKings launches Combos on DraftKings Predictions

May 11: Combos works like an accumulator bet — up to six contracts can be combined into one position, with a payout only if all selections win. It is available for sports markets, excluding futures. The feature is powered by Crypto.com’s exchange infrastructure; the partnership was announced in February 2026. Read more

World News.Week 19

😎🇺🇸 NYC casino race: leading projects move forward

Several major New York casino bids are advancing to the next stage, with operators strengthening partnerships, locations, and investment plans. At the same time, other projects are falling behind, highlighting growing competition for one of the most valuable licenses in the US. Read more

🌎🇲🇽 Stake enters Mexico ahead of World Cup expansion

Stake has launched operations in Mexico as part of its broader LatAm expansion strategy ahead of the 2026 World Cup. The move strengthens the brand’s presence in a fast-growing region and positions it for increased competition and visibility. Read more

🏎🌍 Formula 1 signs FanDuel as official betting partner

Formula 1 has announced FanDuel as its new official betting operator. The partnership marks another step in the sport’s commercial expansion and the growing role of betting brands in global sports ecosystems. Read more

🥊🇬🇪 UFC and Adjarabet announce a multi-year partnership

UFC has signed a multi-year agreement with Adjarabet, making the company an official partner in Georgia. The deal includes integrations with local fighters and fan-focused activations, strengthening the brand’s position in the growing MMA market. Read more