World News.Week 4
⚽️📱 TikTok becomes FIFA’s partner for the 2026 World Cup
FIFA and TikTok have signed an exclusive agreement — for the first time in history, a social media platform has been granted direct access to official content from the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Selected creators will be able to attend team training sessions and press conferences, as well as use FIFA’s archival footage. Media partners will also be allowed to stream match highlights and monetize content on the platform. The partnership will run until the end of 2026. Read more
🎬🎲 Netflix is producing a casino series “The Dealer”
Hwang Dong-hyuk, creator of “Squid Game”, will serve as the creator and producer of the new crime thriller “The Dealer”. The series will be directed by cinematographer Choi Young-hwan, known for “Memoir of a Murderer” and “Escape from Mogadishu”.
Starring Jung So-min, Ryu Seung-bum, Lee Soo-hyuk, and Ryu Kyung-soo.
Plot: croupier Jeon Gong-hwa, who loses her savings to fraudsters, attempts to recover the money by entering a risky scheme with former gambler Hwang Chi-soo. Production is underway; the release date has not yet been announced. Read more
⚡️🇹🇷 Erdoğan: “Online gambling is more dangerous than terrorism”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated during the launch of the TRT Genç TV channel that online gambling causes more harm to the country than terrorism and vowed to eradicate it. According to local media, this refers to the preparation of new legislative measures targeting illegal operators and gambling-related Telegram channels. Read more
😡🥩 Stake mistakenly sent VIP bonus emails
On January 16, users of the crypto casino Stake reported receiving mass emails notifying them of VIP bonuses and activation codes, despite many not having VIP status. Attempts to activate the bonuses resulted in an “Invalid bonus code” error. The operator later confirmed that the mailing was sent in error. Read more
World News.Week 3
A harsh prank from Stake
Stake sent out mass emails promising a $ 100 no-deposit bonus — the joy didn’t last long. A few hours later, the bonus was revoked, explained as a mailing error. Chaos erupted in chats; Eddie promised to look into it. Read more
Diego Simeone becomes the new face of Soft2Bet
The head coach of Atlético Madrid has become an ambassador for Betinia and CampoBet. Soft2Bet’s iGaming portfolio gets a boost from a high-profile football name. Read more
Indian operators attack the Marvel universe
Local iGaming brands are promoting via AI-generated videos in Reels and Shorts: Hulk, Spider-Man, and Iron Man dance to Punjabi tracks and speak local slang. Links to the sites — of course — in descriptions and bios. Read more
1xBet and Barça — a new ad spot
On January 6, the operator released a fresh YouTube clip as part of its partnership with FC Barcelona. Read more
1xBet is preparing its own smartphone — 1xPhone
A device called “1xPhone” has appeared in the Google Certified Devices database with GMS certification. What it will offer players remains a mystery. Read more
World News.Week 2
🇳🇱 PokerStars parts ways with a legend
Lex Veldhuis has ended his 17-year partnership with PokerStars. After a break in early 2025, the poker legend has returned to streaming. You can now catch him on YouTube, Twitch — and for the first time on Kick. A new era — who’s in? Read more
🇧🇷 UFC fighter turns down $ 9M for faith
UFC fighter Mauricio Ruffy from a bookmaker. The condition: he would have to stop talking about Jesus in the octagon. Ruffy declined — some things are worth more than money. Respect. Read more
👋 GGBet exits the UK market
The bookmaker is ending its operations in the UK. The reasons have not yet been disclosed, adding further tension to the regulated market. Read more
🇺🇬 Melbet leaves Uganda
The license has been revoked, and the operator is shutting down its local presence. Another portfolio reassessment across Africa. Read more
World News.Week 1
📈 FanDuel plans a gradual rollout of prediction markets, testing the format and scaling the product step by step. Read more
🎯 Prediction markets are establishing themselves as a standalone segment in iGaming — an overview of key launches, regulation, and operator interest in 2025. Read more
🤖 GKL and Naver Cloud have announced a strategic AI partnership for the gaming and entertainment business. Read more
🎰 Crown Coins Casino is expanding its slot portfolio for the US market by adding new games and providers. Read more
⚖️ USA / Chicago sportsbooks remain operational after the SBA withdrew its request for a temporary restraining order (TRO). Read more
World News.Week 52
⚖️ REGULATION AND MARKET PRESSURE
LiveScore Bet exits Bulgaria
Operator LiveScore Bet announced on December 19 its withdrawal from the Bulgarian market less than a year after launch, citing regulatory issues and rising operational costs. Players were advised to withdraw their funds by the end of 2025. Read more
South Korea offers rewards for reporting offshore bookmakers
The Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO) introduced a reward system for reporting unregulated operators. In 2025, informants received a total of $ 407,000, with a maximum payout of $ 135,000 per case. In December, one insider was paid $ 78,700. The law provides for up to 7 years in prison and fines of up to $ 48,000 for operators, and up to 5 years in prison and $ 34,000 in fines for players. Read more
Indonesia: Sharp decline in online gambling volumes
The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) recorded online gambling transactions totaling $ 9.2 billion in the first nine months of 2025, down 57% from the full year of 2024. The number of active players fell to 3.1 million, 68% below the 2024 level. Authorities attribute the decline to stricter website blocking and enhanced financial monitoring. Read more
📢 MARKETING, PR, AND BRAND CONTROVERSIES
Asmongold accuses Twitch of hypocrisy
Streamer Asmongold (zackrawrr, 2.2 million followers on Twitch*) accused Twitch and Stake-affiliated streamers of hypocrisy during a December 15 broadcast on Kick. He claimed that Twitch bans streamers from partnering with certain iGaming operators while simultaneously displaying betting and fantasy sports ads through its built-in system during partner streams. Read more
World News.Week 51
🙏🇯🇵 JAPAN: Promoters of illegal casinos buy up domains of abandoned anime websites
Animation studio Asahi Production (Tokyo) warned fans on December 10 that the official website of the anime *Onsen Yōsei Hakone-chan* (2015) had been hijacked to promote offshore iGaming operators. The domain was abandoned in 2019 and resold in 2021 to a third party from Kumamoto. The site is disguised as a blog with posts like “Hakone plays online casino,” plus links to no-deposit bonuses. CasinoBeats
Previously affected: “Kaitou Reinya” (2010), “Rokka no Yuusha” (2015), and the mobile game “Blue Reflection Sun” (shut down in 2024). Scheme: wait for domain expiration → buy it → clone the original site → embed gambling ads. Read more
⚡️🇷🇴 ROMANIA: Betano becomes the main sponsor of the wheelchair basketball championship
Betano signed a long-term agreement with the Romanian Paralympic Committee. The operator will become the title sponsor of the national championship in Sibiu and donate 20 wheelchairs to the OncoHelp association. Focus: infrastructure, training, and equipment for adaptive sports. *iGaming News* Read more
🔄⚽️ 1xBet and 22Bet use FIFA+ streams for live betting on lower leagues
Play the Game: in October-November 2025, bookmakers used FIFA+ broadcasts (Aruba, Curaçao, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Seychelles) for live betting. Over 100 domestic league matches. National federations were not informed. Streams had 10+ second delays → local scouts (€ 30−50 per match) collected stats for Sportradar/Genius Sports. Tribuna Read more
🇪🇸🥅 Iker Casillas named new global ambassador for Stake (Road to WC 2026)
The Real Madrid and Spain legend (65M followers) will front Stake’s campaign through the 2026 World Cup. Content includes match analysis, behind-the-scenes footage, and exclusives. Stake CMO: “Casillas is a bridge between top-tier sport and digital.” Stake Read more
🔄🎮 Valve bans skin gambling at CS2 tournaments
TOR update (December 9): a complete ban on skin-betting logos (Skin.Club, Hellcase), case openers, and skin traders (Kinguin) on jerseys, banners, and broadcasts. Applies to all tournaments (ranked and unranked). Cash betting (casino, sportsbook) remains allowed. Dust2 Read more
🔍🇪🇺 European Commission vs Google: scraping content for AI without payments
A formal antitrust investigation: Google is using publishers’ and YouTube content for AI Overviews/AI Mode without compensation. Traffic is falling, and opting out is not possible. YouTube: creators must share videos for Google AI, but not for competitors. Fortune Read more
⚡️🇺🇸 Kalshi and Polymarket promote fake sports insiders
Prediction markets are hiring fake “reporters” on X. Scott Hughes (Kalshi partner) turned into a parody after going viral. Emma Vance (“lead Polymarket reporter”) published fake news and Polymarket charts (Penn State, Lane Kiffin). Polymarket officially promoted her. Awful Announcing Read more
World News.Week 50
🐼🐼 Crypto casino Betpanda has become the official betting partner of the CS2 roster of esports organization G2 (No. 8 HLTV). Starting in 2026, the operator’s logo will appear on the team’s jerseys. Read more
⚡️🔵 In Brazil, operator Energia Bet became the main sponsor of Grêmio FC for the final two matches of the Brazilian Serie A. Read more
⚡️🇬🇷 In Greece, Betsson became the title sponsor of the basketball club Peristeri and acquired naming rights for two years. The team will compete under the name Peristeri Betsson BC, with the logo on playing kits and branding at the home arena. Read more
Scandals and controversy
⚡️🖥 During a stream on Kick, streamer TheGoobr called a friend and asked to borrow $ 50,000. The friend left an exam to transfer the money, after which the streamer lost the entire amount in ~20 seconds playing blackjack. The incident sparked backlash, with the community calling on crypto casino Shuffle to terminate its partnership with him. Read more
↗️🇺🇸 In the US, a trader on Polymarket was accused of insider trading after earning $ 1+ million in a single day. The trader, known as AlphaRaccoon, correctly predicted 22 out of 23 outcomes in the “Google Year in Search” markets, making over $ 1 million — including bets that Pope Leo XIV would not make the top 5 most searched people and that singer d4vd would become the most searched artist. X users suspected links to Google, after which he changed his handle to 0xafEe; earlier in November, he had already earned around $ 150,000 from an accurate bet on the release date of Gemini 3.0. Read more
New brands and launches
🎰🥊 Conor McGregor has launched his own online casino RealBet. io, acting as a co-owner and brand ambassador of the project. Read more
World News.Week 49
⚡️🇺🇸 Scandal in the U.S.: prediction market platform Polymarket at the center of a racist incident
As the prediction platform Polymarket returns to the local market, it has become involved in a major racism scandal. On November 24, the company’s X account, PolymarketTrade, published a post announcing the revocation of affiliate status from “Jeets” (a racist slur for Indians), Turks, and Nigerians posing as women on social media to promote the platform. The tweet sparked public outrage and was quickly deleted. Two days later, the company’s CLO apologized, taking full responsibility and calling the post unacceptable. Read more
📲🇲🇺 Mauritius: Stevenhills applies to launch SMS betting
Betting operator Stevenhills has submitted an application to the GRA regulator to launch an SMS-betting feature. The company forecasts € 1.1 million in revenue from this vertical by June 2026. Read more
🚔🇮🇹 Italy: fraudulent online casinos operating under the Amazon brand
Fraudulent casinos branded as Amazon Slots and Amazon Slot Casino have been discovered in Italy. They use images of Jeff Bezos and Italian influencer Khaby Lame in advertising campaigns across Facebook, Instagram, and Google. The operators offer a € 1,500 welcome bonus and 200 free spins, using Amazon’s logo and branding. Amazon Slots even has an app with over 50,000 downloads and a 4.6-star rating, while the Amazon Slot Casino website redirects users to slotsandcasino.ag. Read more
🇧🇬 Bulgaria: lottery monopoly to be transferred to a private operator
Bulgaria plans to transfer the state monopoly on lotteries and sports betting to a private operator. The tender is expected to be announced by March 2026. Read more
World News.Week 48
🥊 Jean “Lord” Silva, a Brazilian UFC featherweight fighter, has become an ambassador for the crypto casino BC.GAME. An interesting choice for such a popular athlete! Read more
⚡️👍 The Alpha Affiliates partner program has shut down the Betsomnia brand, which actually stopped operating for players back on October 31. The reasons for the closure have not yet been disclosed. Read more
🎰🇦🇪 Two new iGaming brands are launching in the UAE — TrueWin and Dream Island, both operated by Momentum. Both websites run on .ae domains, but there is no information about licensing. Interestingly, Dream Island has been operating since 2020, while TrueWin was launched in 2023. Read more
💵 And finally, a funny story from Japan: a 66-year-old man won over $ 3 million in the lottery but decided to hide it from his wife, telling her he had only won $ 32,000. To keep his secret, he even parked his new car far from home and traveled to it by subway. In the end, despite all the secrecy, he invested the remaining money into insurance for his family. Read more
World News.Week 47
⚡️🇬🇷 Operator Betsson has become the official sponsor of the Greek football club Iraklis starting from the 2025/26 season! The company’s logo will be placed on the back of the team’s kit. Great news for the club’s fans! Read more
🫰 Crypto casino Stake has partnered with the payment platform Praxis Tech. This collaboration promises new opportunities for users and improved financial operations in the crypto space. Read more
📊🔍 Google has integrated data from prediction platforms Kalshi and Polymarket into Google Finance. Users will now be able to see probabilities of future events directly in search results. The feature will roll out in the coming weeks! Read more
⚽️ African football legend Yaya Touré has become the official ambassador of the PariPesa brand in Africa! Strength, confidence, and the will to win — these qualities connect Yaya with millions of players across the continent. The four-time African Footballer of the Year joins PariPesa, strengthening ties between global stars and African fans.
⚡️🎙 RedCore business group and NEXT. io media platform are launching a joint podcast series! Episodes were recorded on November 4 during SIGMA Rome with well-known industry experts. They will be released on the NEXT. io YouTube channel — the exact release date has not yet been announced. Read more
⚡️🎰 Dmitry Belyanin has launched a new iGaming brand, Menace, under the Anjouan license, along with its own media group and the Menace Partners affiliate program. The company is already in the process of obtaining additional local licenses. Read more
World News.Week 46
🏀 NBA Requests Lakers Staff Phones Amid Insider Betting Investigation
The league has launched an official investigation after suspicious betting activity surfaced. The NBA requested the phones of several Los Angeles Lakers staff members to check for possible leaks of internal information. The investigation is ongoing, and the league is tightening its oversight to prevent any violations related to insider information and betting. Read more
🇧🇷 Procon-SP Holds Online Seminar on the Betting and iGaming Market
Brazil’s regulator Procon-SP conducted a virtual seminar focused on player safety and the regulation of the online betting industry. Experts discussed operator responsibilities, customer data protection, transparency requirements, and the need for safer industry standards. The goal is to make the market more secure and more understandable for users. Read more
🔒 BetBlocker Surpasses 250,000 Active Users in 2025
The self-exclusion service BetBlocker announced a new milestone — more than a quarter of a million active users worldwide. The platform helps players block access to gambling websites with temporary or long-term restrictions. The growing user base highlights increasing demand for responsible gaming tools. Read more
💼 Crypto.com Launches Institutional Custody Solution for SUI Tokens
Crypto.com introduced a new secure custody service for institutional clients working with SUI tokens. Developed in partnership with the Sui Foundation, the solution enhances asset protection and boosts trust among large investors and financial institutions. Read more
World News.Week 45
🎰🙅♂️ OpenAI Updates Its Usage Policy
OpenAI has revised its guidelines — ChatGPT will no longer provide advice or consultations related to gambling, reflecting the company’s commitment to promoting more responsible use of technology. Read more
⚡️🇧🇷 Partnership in Brazil
Operator 7K has announced a collaboration with the YouTube channel “Você Sabia?”, one of the world’s most popular science and education channels. The hosts, Lucas Marques and Daniel Molo, are both featured in Forbes Under 30. Read more
⚡️🥊 New Ambassador in the Gambling World
Brazilian UFC Flyweight Champion Alexandre “Cannibal” Pantoja has become the ambassador for the crash game Aviator by SPRIBE, highlighting the growing popularity of gambling partnerships among top athletes. Read more
🇰🇬🎱 Kyrgyzstan Develops a Unified Lottery System
Authorities in Kyrgyzstan have begun developing a digital platform for lottery ticket sales, draws, and prize payouts. The initiative aims to enhance control and transparency in the country’s gambling sector. Read more
🇮🇹😎 Partnership Extension
MelBet Partners Affiliates and Italian football club Juventus have extended their partnership. While the terms and duration of the new agreement remain undisclosed, the collaboration continues to strengthen the link between sports and gambling.
