Author: Tenstar Team

Kalshi Valuation Hits $40bn Amid Mounting Legal Fights
Kalshi has raised $1bn in a Series G funding round that lifts its valuation to $40bn, up from $22bn in May. The jump in the Kalshi valuation came in the same week that the company sued the Missouri Gaming Commission over its sports-related contracts, highlighting the tension between investor enthusiasm and regulatory resistance facing the prediction markets sector.
What happened
Prediction market Kalshi has seen its valuation nearly double to $40 billion in a matter of months off the back of a $1 billion Series G co-led by Wellington and Sequoia.
The latest valuation represents an approximately 82% increase from the $22 billion valuation attached to its $1 billion Series F in May.
Baillie Gifford, Stripes, Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, Layer Global, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Sequoia Global Equities, CapitalG, Hudson River Trading, and Balyasny Asset Management all joined the round.
The scale of the business underpinning that Kalshi valuation is considerable.
The firm has over $1 billion in non-sports annualised revenue and the overall business’s annualised trading volume now exceeds $1 trillion, with over 30 million accounts created and the company accounting for over 75% of prediction market trading volume.
Sports-related trading remains central to its business, accounting for as much as 70% of an estimated $4 billion in annualized revenue as of July.
Days before the funding was confirmed, Kalshi took a more combative stance toward state regulators.
Kalshi filed a lawsuit against the Missouri Gaming Commission and several state officials, arguing that the regulation of prediction markets falls exclusively under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal entity, not state authority.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway had issued cease-and-desist letters to Kalshi and other prediction market platforms the previous month, alleging they were offering illegal sports betting.
Missouri is not alone in pushing back: other operators including Polymarket US, Novig and Crypto.com-backed OG.com have filed similar challenges against state enforcement in the same period, while New York has separately sued Kalshi for billions in damages over its event contracts.
Why it matters
The scale of this Kalshi valuation increase signals that institutional investors see prediction markets as a durable threat to, or substitute for, regulated sports betting rather than a passing novelty. For licensed operators, that means continued pressure on customer acquisition costs and search visibility, as a well-funded, aggressively marketed competitor positions itself outside traditional sportsbook licensing frameworks in several states.
For affiliates, the growth raises a genuine commercial question: whether to treat prediction markets as a new monetisable vertical or to steer clear until legal status is settled. Given that several states are actively litigating whether these products are gambling at all, affiliates promoting prediction market platforms in disputed jurisdictions risk exposure similar to that faced by operators promoting unlicensed betting products.
The bigger picture
Kalshi has overtaken rival Polymarket in market share over the past year
according to data cited by Reuters, even as Polymarket pursues its own funding at a lower valuation. The widening gap between the two largest prediction market platforms suggests consolidation of liquidity and marketing spend around Kalshi specifically, which could accelerate further product expansion into commodities, crypto and broader financial contracts.
The Missouri lawsuit follows a pattern established across multiple states this year, including Kalshi’s recent moves into sports league partnerships, Utah’s criminal charges against the company, and ongoing disputes in Arizona and Nevada. Each new filing tests the same core argument: that CFTC registration shields event contracts from state gambling law. Until a higher court resolves that question definitively, operators and affiliates alike should expect prediction markets to keep expanding commercially while remaining legally contested in a growing list of jurisdictions.
Sources
October 31, 2026
MGM Digital Growth Slows as Loss Narrows to $4m
MGM Digital, the LeoVegas-led international arm of MGM Resorts, narrowed its adjusted EBITDAR loss to $4m in the third quarter, down from $23m a year earlier, even as revenue growth slowed sharply to 6%. The deceleration from 20% growth in the previous quarter lands as UK and European operators face a wave of new gambling taxes, raising questions about how much further the division can expand before tax and regulatory pressure caps its momentum.
What happened
MGM Resorts reported third-quarter 2026 results on 28 October, with consolidated revenue of $4.2 billion, a decrease of 1% compared to the prior year quarter. Group net loss narrowed substantially, with
net loss attributable to MGM Resorts of $17 million in the current quarter compared to net loss attributable to MGM Resorts of $285 million in the prior year quarter
.
Within that, MGM Digital posted
revenue of $184 million in the current quarter compared to $174 million in the prior year quarter, an increase of 6%
, while its
segment adjusted EBITDAR loss of $4 million in the current quarter compared to a loss of $23 million in the prior year quarter
. That compares with a far stronger second quarter, when
MGM Digital posted revenue of $196 million during 2Q26 compared [to] $164 million 2Q25, an increase of 20%
.
Growth in the latest quarter came mainly from Europe.
MGM Digital’s B2C revenue increased 8%, led by Spain, the Netherlands and the UK
, and
its proprietary platform generated more than 80% of UK online sports revenue following the August sports-betting launch
. Player numbers, however, moved in the opposite direction:
average monthly active users totaled 878,000, down 3% as the company focused on higher-value “premium mass” player engagement rather than customer acquisition volume
.
Why it matters
The narrower loss shows MGM Digital edging closer to sustainable profitability after years of investment behind LeoVegas’s international footprint. But the sharp drop in growth, from 20% to 6% quarter-on-quarter, suggests that expansion is becoming harder to sustain at the pace shareholders had been shown earlier in the year. Executives attributed the improvement to discipline rather than volume, with
MGM Digital increasing net revenue by 6%, or approximately $10 million, while improving EBITDAR by $19 million and narrowing its quarterly loss to $4 million
.
That trade-off between growth and margin matters because it is playing out against a backdrop of rising taxation across MGM Digital’s core European markets. The UK has just raised Machine Games Duty, the Netherlands recorded a shrinking regulated market in 2025, and Italy has confirmed a further €700m gambling tax take for 2027. Operators scaling back acquisition spend to protect margins, as MGM Digital appears to be doing by trimming active users while chasing premium players, points to an industry-wide recalibration of how growth is funded.
For affiliates and performance marketers, a shift from volume-driven acquisition toward premium-player targeting changes the commercial calculus. Operators pulling back on broad-based player acquisition are likely to favour partners who can deliver higher-value, better-qualified traffic rather than raw sign-up numbers, putting pressure on affiliate programmes built around bulk conversions. The growing share of MGM Digital’s UK sports revenue flowing through its own proprietary platform also signals less reliance on third-party channels for that segment specifically.
The bigger picture
MGM Digital’s slowdown fits a pattern already visible elsewhere in European online gambling this earnings season. Evolution returned to growth in the third quarter partly on the back of Brazil, while Evoke reported falling UK revenue alongside store closures, underlining how unevenly the region’s operators are weathering tax and regulatory headwinds. MGM’s own commentary pointed to LeoVegas and BetMGM eventually self-funding expansion into Brazil, a market MGM Resorts continues to pursue even as domestic talks over other strategic options, including with People Inc, have ended.
Across MGM Resorts as a whole, the quarter showed a similar split between resilience and pressure:
MGM China revenue increased 5% year-on-year to $1.1 billion
, a record for the segment, while
the company posted a 2% year-on-year decline in revenue from its Las Vegas Strip operations to $1.95 billion, as falling room rates offset stronger casino results
. With UK gambling duties rising further under the terms outlined in the Machine Games Duty increase, MGM Digital’s next quarters will show whether its pivot toward premium players and proprietary platforms can keep margins improving without growth stalling further.
Sources
October 31, 2026
Malta Gaming Authority Scales Back Foreign Licence Reform
The Malta Gaming Authority has abandoned several of its proposed amendments to the island’s Recognition Notice framework, after operators and industry representatives argued the regulator was overstepping its powers. The climbdown affects companies that run gambling businesses from Malta while holding a licence issued by another EEA regulator, a structure used by well over a hundred firms.
What happened
The reform effort was launched as part of Malta’s National AML/CFT Strategy 2024–2026, with a consultation issued to industry stakeholders in April.
The target was the Recognition Notice, or RN, mechanism.
These notices permit both B2C and B2B companies to work from the island without obtaining a formal licence from the Malta Gaming Authority.
In practice, this has meant many gambling businesses based on the island operate under licences from elsewhere, Romania being one example.
The scale of the arrangement is not trivial.
Figures cited by the regulator showed that by 2021, 111 Malta-incorporated gaming companies were operating under RNs, including 46 B2C operators.
The MGA’s original proposals had included more extensive corporate disclosures, more detailed financial information, and a standardised legal opinion requirement for foreign licence applications.
Industry pushback centred on two issues.
The system had already faced scrutiny over concerns that some companies may be operating with insufficient oversight, with a major point of contention being that some firms may operate under foreign licences without informing the MGA.
At the same time,
some stakeholders questioned whether the MGA even has the statutory authority to ask for some of the information it had requested.
Faced with that resistance, the regulator has retreated from much of its original plan.
The Authority said it had “reconsidered and refined a number of its original proposals to address concerns relating to proportionality, operational implementation, commercial sensitivity and potential duplication with the oversight exercised by foreign licensing authorities.”
The Malta Gaming Authority still wants to strengthen supervision, but its ability to do so may depend on the Maltese government’s willingness to amend the legislation underpinning the system.
The MGA had committed to begin collecting information from foreign licence-holders under the new regime this year, despite it already being October.
Why it matters
For operators and suppliers structured through Malta’s RN framework, the immediate practical burden has eased.
The MGA has abandoned several of its proposed amendments, and while it will still consult foreign licence holders and gather further suggestions, this marks a stark departure from the authority’s earlier ambitions and may set back vital reforms.
Companies that had been bracing for heavier disclosure requirements, additional legal opinions and closer financial reporting now face a lighter near-term compliance path.
The episode also exposes a structural weakness in how Malta polices cross-border licensing. A regulator that wants tighter AML oversight but lacks the clear statutory basis to demand it is constrained until national lawmakers act. That matters for any operator weighing Malta as a base of operations against alternative EU hubs, since the credibility of the island’s supervisory model depends partly on whether the MGA can actually enforce what it proposes.
The bigger picture
The retreat lands at a sensitive moment for Malta’s gambling sector, which has spent much of 2026 defending its cross-border licensing model on other fronts, including European Commission infringement proceedings and court challenges over the recognition of foreign judgments against Maltese-licensed operators. A regulator seen as unable to tighten its own foreign-licence oversight adds to the pressure on Malta to demonstrate its framework still meets EU anti-money-laundering expectations, even as it tries to protect the commercial model that has made the island a hub for remote gaming.
For more on how regulators across Europe are tightening the rules operators work under, see our industry news section.
Sources
October 31, 2026
Dutch Gambling Market Shrinks to €4.1bn in 2025
The Netherlands’ licensed gambling market shrank to €4.1bn in 2025, down from an inflation-adjusted €4.5bn the previous year, as online casino and sports betting revenue fell sharply under new player-protection rules. The figures, published by regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) in its annual market scan alongside a half-yearly monitoring report for the first six months of 2026, mark one of the clearest signs yet that the Dutch online channel is contracting under the weight of deposit limits and higher taxation.
What happened
The Dutch regulator released the figures on Thursday 29 October in an update on the state of the Dutch gambling market, alongside its half-yearly monitoring report on remote gambling covering the first six months of 2026.
Gross gaming revenue across land-based and online products came to €4.1bn last year, down from an inflation-adjusted €4.5bn in 2024.
The online segment absorbed the bulk of the decline.
Total online GGR fell to €1.20bn for 2025, compared with €1.52bn a year earlier, a fall of 21%, with online casino revenue dropping 18.2% to €947m, while online sports betting fell 30.2% to €254m against €364m in 2024.
Land-based gambling proved more resilient by comparison.
KSA attributed the overall decline chiefly to the drop in online GGR, with sports betting falling 30.2 per cent and land-based venue GGR down 4.7 per cent, while Holland Casino bucked the trend by growing GGR 2.8 per cent, mainly through slots rather than table games.
Tax policy compounded the squeeze on operator margins.
Gambling tax rose from 30.5% to 34.2% in 2025, which explains why total tax receipts of €1.05bn fell less sharply than revenue.
The regulator also flagged a worrying side effect of its own deposit-limit policy.
In its view, one possible explanation for shifting account numbers is that some players open several accounts to get around per-account deposit limits.
Treatment data cited in the report also show that over 14% more people were in care for gambling addiction in 2025 than in 2024.
The monitoring report painted a more mixed picture for early 2026. Online account numbers rose through the first half of the year, which KSA linked partly to the men’s football World Cup rather than genuine market growth. The channelisation rate, measuring the share of gambling spend captured by licensed operators, improved
from 54% to 59%
over the same period, though that still leaves a substantial share of online spend flowing to unlicensed sites.
Why it matters
The scale of the contraction confirms that the Netherlands’ 2024 reforms have done more than trim excess from the Dutch gambling market; they have reshaped it. A 21% drop in online GGR in a single year is a material shift for any regulated European jurisdiction, and it puts licensed operators’ commercial models under sustained pressure at the same time as their tax burden has risen.
For affiliates and performance marketers, the KSA’s own channelisation data is the more telling number. A legal market capturing only around 54-59% of online spend in the period under review means a significant volume of Dutch searches and traffic are still being satisfied by unlicensed operators outside the regulated ecosystem. That creates a narrower addressable market for licensed-brand affiliate campaigns, even as it underlines the commercial logic for channel partners to steer clear of unlicensed listings that carry compliance and reputational risk.
The bigger picture
The Netherlands joins a growing list of European markets where tighter consumer-protection rules are visibly denting reported GGR, even as regulators maintain that the measures are working as intended on player numbers. KSA’s own data shows that participation has not collapsed;
approximately 94 per cent of people who gamble do so exclusively through legal providers,
but those who remain in the regulated channel appear to be spending markedly less per head. That dynamic echoes concerns raised elsewhere in Europe about the gap between deposit-limit policy intentions and measurable displacement to the black market.
The timing is notable too, landing in the same week that Dutch authorities handed a record €37m fine to EOD Code, reinforcing the picture of a regulator simultaneously tightening enforcement and absorbing the revenue consequences of its own 2024 reform package. For operators weighing further investment in the Dutch market, the combination of shrinking legal online revenue, rising tax rates and an expanding compliance burden adds up to a tougher commercial environment than existed before the reforms took effect.
Sources
October 30, 2026
Italy Gambling Tax Set at €700m in 2027 Budget Plan
Italy’s government has confirmed that the gambling sector will contribute approximately €700 million to the state budget for 2027, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni signed off the country’s Budget Law this week. The figure forms part of a wider fiscal package that also draws on the banking, insurance and energy industries to fund tax cuts and new spending ahead of next year’s general election.
What happened
Italy will raise taxes on banks, insurers, energy firms and the gaming industry to help finance its 2027 budget, ministers said after cabinet approved the last financial bill under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni before an election due next year.
Financial firms will have to contribute more than €5 billion to help finance these measures, with energy companies and the gambling sector each providing €700 million.
The Council of Ministers approved the draft budget law on 28 October, with the bill now moving to parliament for final approval by the end of the year.
At her press conference, the prime minister confirmed that €700 million would come from gambling, a rounding of the Draft Budgetary Plan sent to Brussels earlier this month, which pencils in €718 million in both 2027 and 2028 and €478 million in 2029.
Exactly how the levy will be collected remains unsettled.
Italy’s gambling sector could fund its roughly €700 million share of the 2027 budget through the aggio, the commission on lottery sales, and through online gaming, according to financial daily Milano Finanza, though the breakdown appears as only a single line in wider budget coverage.
The target itself has shifted repeatedly in the weeks leading up to approval.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance initially expected gambling taxes to generate €700m for the state over 2026 and 2027, an estimate that narrows earlier scenarios ranging from €400m-€500m to as much as €1bn.
Why it matters
The budget lands at an already demanding moment for Italian operators.
Licences under the regime that went live in November 2025 cost €7 million each, and operators must certify their systems under new technical rules by 15 February 2027, while Italy’s Dignity Decree still bans gambling advertising.
That combination of licensing costs, certification deadlines and an advertising ban leaves operators with limited room to absorb a fresh tax bill through commercial growth.
Analysts quoted in trade coverage flag the timing risk directly.
Operators are rebuilding their systems to meet ADM’s new technical rules, a process so troublesome that the regulator pushed back the deadline to 15 February 2027, and with certification still under way, extra financial pressure could strain operators at a delicate moment.
Because Italy bans gambling advertising, operators cannot simply market their way out of a bigger bill.
For affiliates and performance marketers, the advertising ban already limits the acquisition channels available in the Italian market, meaning any additional tax burden on operators is more likely to be absorbed through margin or product changes than through reduced marketing spend, since that spend is already constrained by law.
The bigger picture
Italy’s move fits a broader European pattern of governments treating regulated gambling as a dependable revenue line during fiscal tightening.
Italy’s betting industry remains one of the five biggest in Europe
, giving the sector scale that makes it an attractive target regardless of the compliance strain it creates for licence holders.
Italy’s budget was approved shortly after the UK’s was announced, and like Italy, the UK government is using gambling taxes to offset cuts elsewhere, though not to quite the same extent.
The gambling contribution also sits within a much larger package.
Financial firms will have to contribute more than €5 billion to help finance these measures, with energy companies and the gambling sector each providing €700 million.
The budget sets out tax cuts and spending hikes worth €26 billion, aiming to lower the fiscal burden for middle earners and the self-employed while increasing funding for the national health service.
Italy’s approach mirrors the UK’s recent budget decisions, detailed in Tenstar Media’s coverage of the Machine Games Duty rise to 25%, where the sector is similarly being used to plug fiscal gaps. With both of Europe’s largest regulated markets leaning on gambling taxation in the same budget cycle, operators across the continent should expect the trend to continue into 2027 planning.
Sources
October 30, 2026
MGM Resorts Ends People Inc Talks, Presses On in Brazil
MGM Resorts International has confirmed that takeover talks with its largest shareholder, Barry Diller’s People Inc, have ended, closing out months of speculation as the operator posted third-quarter 2026 results showing digital growth offset by continued uncertainty in Brazil. The announcement came during the company’s earnings call on 28 October, alongside figures showing group revenue of $4.2 billion and a narrowed net loss of $17 million.
What happened
President and Chief Executive Bill Hornbuckle used the Q3 call to put an end to months of market speculation about MGM Resorts‘ ownership structure.
MGM Resorts International ended takeover discussions with its largest shareholder, People Inc, after People was unable to assemble a syndicate that met its objectives and withdrew its offer.
That withdrawal had originally come in September, with
People, the investment firm led by media mogul Barry Diller, having withdrawn its offer of more than $18 billion in September.
Hornbuckle was direct about where things now stand.
He said the discussion between MGM and People ends there, adding that the dialogue between the two parties on a mutual buyout was all about trying to unlock the value of People’s roughly 25% stake.
As part of the resolution,
MGM Resorts also announced an amendment to its existing voting agreement with People, revising the arrangement following People’s decision to abandon its takeover bid.
In exchange, MGM agreed not to take defensive measures or actions designed to be adverse to People and Diller.
On the financial side,
MGM Resorts reported a 1% year-on-year decline in consolidated revenue to $4.2 billion in the third quarter of 2026, as weaker Las Vegas Strip results offset growth elsewhere, while net loss narrowed to $17 million from $285 million a year earlier and adjusted EBITDA fell to $403 million from $506 million.
Performance varied across operating segments: MGM China revenue increased 5% year-on-year to $1.1 billion, MGM Digital revenue rose 6% to $184 million, while regional operations reported an 8% decline in revenue to $883 million.
CFO Jonathan Halkyard said the company has more than $1 billion remaining in stock buy-back authority but did not repurchase any shares in Q3 amid the various acquisition talks.
Why it matters
The collapse of the People Inc talks removes a significant overhang for MGM shareholders, but the digital unit’s Brazil exposure is the more immediate operational concern for the wider industry.
BetMGM Brasil was the 36th-largest operator in Brazil, according to the Blask Index, before the market was curtailed last month by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
That shutdown followed a provisional measure, and the company’s own filings confirm the scale of disruption:
in September 2026, MGM Digital ceased operations in Brazil pending resolution to a government order temporarily banning fixed-odds betting and online casino games.
Despite the Brazilian disruption, management struck an optimistic tone on the wider digital business.
Hornbuckle said that MGM Digital will continue on its path to profitability regardless of the outcome in Brazil.
The numbers back that up:
for the entirety of MGM Digital’s operations, revenue grew 6% year-on-year from $174m to $184m, while it cut its segment adjusted EBITDAR loss to $4m from $23m.
Growth outside Brazil was broad-based, with
the BetMGM brand continuing to drive 8% top-line growth in the B2C channels, led by gains in Spain, the Netherlands, and the UK.
For operators and affiliates with exposure to Latin America, the episode reinforces how quickly a single political or regulatory shift can eliminate a market from the revenue mix. Chief Commercial Officer Gary Fritz acknowledged the surprise factor directly:
the election result caught the company by surprise, and it was able to reduce some of its fixed costs in Brazil accordingly.
Affiliates running Brazilian-facing campaigns for multi-market brands will need to watch for similar contingency moves elsewhere as operators rebalance budgets toward markets showing steadier growth, such as the UK and Spain.
The bigger picture
The North American joint venture remains the strongest part of MGM’s digital story.
BetMGM North America posted net revenue from operations of $710 million in the third quarter, up 7% year-over-year, while adjusted EBITDA surged 112% to $86 million.
The venture also
reiterated its full-year 2026 guidance of $2.9 billion to $3.1 billion in net revenue and $300 million to $350 million in adjusted EBITDA.
MGM’s Brazil setback echoes a broader pattern this year of sudden regulatory reversals in the market, a theme this site has tracked closely in recent coverage of operators responding to Brazil’s shifting betting rules, including Stake’s challenge to the court reversal of the betting ban. With MGM’s ownership question now settled and its US digital arm accelerating, attention turns to how the company and its Grupo Globo partner respond if and when Brazil’s market reopens.
Sources
October 30, 2026
Veikkaus Targets Overseas Growth With Viabet Launch
Finland’s state-owned gambling operator Veikkaus has signed a commercial partnership with streaming group Viaplay to launch a new consumer brand, Viabet, in Finland and Denmark from 1 July 2027. The deal marks Veikkaus’s first move into a consumer gambling market outside its home country, timed to coincide with the opening of Finland’s licensed market to competition.
What happened
Veikkaus OY aims to launch its new Viabet gambling brand in Denmark and Finland on 1 July 2027, marking the state-owned operator’s first move into international iGaming markets.
Previously, Veikkaus’s overseas involvement was concentrated through its B2B subsidiary, Fennica Gaming, established in 2022, which exports Finnish gaming technology and services to customers across 21 countries.
Viabet represents its first consumer-facing push abroad.
The expansion will be supported by a commercial partnership with Viaplay’s Finnish sports and entertainment OTT platform, combining the broadcaster’s sports content and market expertise with the tech and operations of Veikkaus’ B2B division Fennica Gaming.
Under the agreement, Viabet will use selected Viaplay media content alongside Veikkaus’ capabilities in gambling, customer experience and player protection.
Veikkaus will also contribute sports data and analytics to support Viaplay’s coverage.
Chief executive Olli Sarekoski described the agreement as
“a significant strategic step for Veikkaus and a concrete demonstration of how we are advancing our international growth goals”
, adding that it would help the company
“build a distinctive offering, improve our competitiveness in the open market and create a stronger foundation for a scalable international consumer business”
.
He also described the Viaplay partnership as not an individual commercial project, but a strategic investment in Veikkaus’ future.
Viaplay operates a subscription video-on-demand platform in Finland and Denmark and holds broadcasting rights to leagues including the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, the Danish 3F Superliga, the German Bundesliga, NHL, and Formula 1.
The agreement extends an existing relationship between the companies to promote Finnish pro-sports leagues and fixtures to new audiences.
On the Danish side,
Viaplay Denmark CEO Lars Bo Jeppesen said the operator had demonstrated both the ambition and expertise required to compete in Denmark, identifying responsible gambling as a central consideration in the partnership.
The July 2027 date is a corporate target rather than confirmation of regulatory clearance.
The 1 July 2027 date is a planned corporate launch rather than evidence that operations have already been authorised, and Veikkaus’ release does not state that a Danish B2C licence application has been filed or approved.
A Danish regulator list last updated on 20 August 2026 did not show Veikkaus, Viabet or Fennica Gaming among licensed gambling operators.
Why it matters
The Viabet launch is significant because it shows a legacy state monopoly actively building a competitive consumer brand rather than simply defending domestic turf.
Finland’s Parliament adopted the new Gambling Act and related legislation on 16 December 2025, and licence applications have been permitted since 1 March 2026.
That reform ends Veikkaus’s historic exclusivity over much of the Finnish market and forces it to compete directly with international operators entering under licence.
Pairing the launch with a major streaming and sports-rights holder points to a distribution strategy built around media reach rather than pure performance marketing. For operators and affiliates, the tie-up signals that content and broadcast partnerships are becoming a more prominent customer-acquisition channel in markets opening to competition, alongside traditional search and affiliate traffic. Brands entering Finland and Denmark alongside Viabet will be competing against a rival with built-in sports-audience access through Viaplay’s subscriber base.
The bigger picture
The move fits a wider pattern of Nordic gambling monopolies repositioning as commercial, internationally minded groups as their home markets liberalise.
The move hinges on a major change in Finland’s gambling market, which will open up to licensed competitors next summer.
Veikkaus already has international commercial reach through Fennica Gaming, and Viabet extends that ambition into direct consumer operations for the first time.
Veikkaus has for many years held a monopoly over large parts of the Finnish gambling market, but as Finland opens up to competition in 2027, a wholly new reality awaits the state-owned giant.
The Viabet launch suggests the operator intends to compete offensively rather than retreat into a shrinking protected niche, a strategy that will be watched closely by other state operators across the region facing similar liberalisation pressure. The development follows recent Finnish licensing activity covered on this site, including ComeOn and SuomiVeto gaining approval to operate in the newly opened market.
Sources
October 29, 2026
Kalshi Hit With 14 Criminal Charges by Utah
Utah has filed 14 criminal charges, including 13 felony counts, against prediction market operator Kalshi and its two co-founders, Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara. The case marks only the second time a US state has brought criminal charges against a federally registered prediction market operator, following Arizona in March, and signals a harder line from state regulators against platforms offering sports-linked event contracts.
What happened
Utah Attorney General Derek Brown filed the charges in a state court in Salt Lake County on 28 October.
The charges against Kalshi and its two co-founders include one count of engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, a second-degree felony, 12 counts of online gambling promotion, third-degree felonies, and one count of general gambling promotion, a misdemeanour.
The criminal case follows a civil lawsuit Utah had filed against Kalshi the previous week.
Utah separately seeks up to $61.2 million in allegedly unlawful fees through its civil lawsuit.
The charges rest on an undercover operation by the state’s own investigators.
An undercover investigator placed 12 sports wagers totaling $114.87 and lost $25.10.
The agent used a Utah address, phone number, and debit card to access Kalshi, and the platform allegedly allowed the agent to place 12 separate sports wagers.
Kalshi has rejected the allegations outright. A company spokesperson told reporters
“This is a crazy overreach; Utah is clearly playing politics. We look forward to putting a stop to this in court, just like we did in Arizona.”
The timing is notable:
the move follows a lawsuit Brown filed last week over bets on sports, elections, and politics, and comes a day after the CFTC sued Utah to block enforcement of its anti-gambling laws against prediction markets.
Brown defended the state’s position in a public statement, arguing
“Gambling is illegal in Utah, whether you place the bet, run the game, or promote it,” and that describing a product as a prediction market does not change its nature or exempt a company from state law.
Why it matters
For operators and suppliers watching the US prediction markets boom, the Utah case raises the stakes considerably. Unlike earlier civil actions, this filing names Kalshi’s chief executive and chief operating officer personally as co-defendants, exposing individual executives to felony liability rather than just corporate fines. Commentators have framed this as a deliberate change of tactic by state authorities.
The felony charges could represent a new tactic in how states try to assert regulatory authority over the fast-expanding activity, a clash that appears headed to a showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court.
The dispute also highlights the jurisdictional tangle facing the sector, with federal and state authorities pulling in opposite directions. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has taken Kalshi’s side against Utah even as the state pursues criminal sanctions, leaving operators that partner with or compete against prediction market platforms uncertain about which regulatory framework ultimately prevails. Licensed sportsbooks that have long operated under state gambling law may view the episode as validation of calls for prediction markets to face equivalent licensing and tax obligations.
Affiliates and marketing partners promoting prediction markets content should treat the case as a signal to review how they frame these products, particularly in states where legal status remains contested. Promotional content that blurs the line between “trading” and “betting” could itself become a point of regulatory scrutiny, as Utah’s charge of general gambling promotion demonstrates.
The bigger picture
Utah’s action is not an isolated event.
Arizona filed criminal charges against Kalshi in March 2026, marking the first criminal prosecution ever of a CFTC-registered prediction market operator offering event contracts in the U.S.
That Arizona case did not hold:
a federal judge blocked that case in May, ruling federal law preempts state gambling enforcement against sports event contracts.
Utah is proceeding regardless, betting that its own courts or ultimately the Supreme Court will side with state authority over federal preemption arguments.
The case lands amid a wider reckoning over prediction markets’ place in the gambling ecosystem, a theme this site has tracked closely in recent weeks, including the scrutiny facing Polymarket’s marketing practices and the entry of major sports leagues into the space. With state attorneys general, the CFTC and federal courts all now active participants, the legal architecture governing US prediction markets remains unsettled, and operators building strategy around these products face a genuinely fluid regulatory picture heading into 2027.
Sources
October 29, 2026
Star Entertainment Fined AU$260m for AML Breaches
Australia’s Federal Court has ordered Star Entertainment Group to pay a combined AU$260 million (US$183 million) penalty for breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing law. The ruling, handed down on 28 October, closes a civil case that AUSTRAC first filed against the casino operator in 2022.
What happened
Justice Cameron Moore’s judgment splits the penalty between
a AU$195 million fine for The Star Sydney and a AU$65 million fine for The Star Gold Coast, reflecting the greater contraventions committed at the Sydney property
. The court found
the casino operator failed to maintain an adequate compliance programme, verify the sources of customers’ funds and properly monitor transactions involving high-risk gamblers
.
The misconduct is not recent.
The breaches covered the period from November 2016 to November 2022
, and
more than 1,200 customers were able to gamble through channels that exposed the casinos to money-laundering risks, including transactions involving unidentified third parties
.
Neither side got the figure it argued for.
Justice Moore said the AU$100 million fine proposed by Star was too low and the AU$400 million proposed by AUSTRAC too high
. The court also weighed Star’s conduct against precedent, though
Justice Moore refuted attempts by AUSTRAC to compare Star’s actions with those of Crown Resorts, which in 2023 reached an AU$450 million settlement with the regulator
. Payment is not immediate:
the penalty is to be paid in four equal instalments over 19 months
.
Why it matters
The case confirms that AML failures in gambling carry financial consequences long after the underlying conduct occurred, and that regulators and courts continue to treat historical breaches as live enforcement priorities. For operators, the ruling reinforces that customer due diligence and source-of-funds checks are not back-office formalities but core conditions of a licence to operate.
The penalty also has immediate balance-sheet implications.
Star confirmed that the quantum and payment terms of the penalty constitute a review event under its credit facility agreement with WhiteHawk Capital Partners
, though the company said
it does not consider the payment of the penalty will impact the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern
. Star had already set aside funds for the outcome, stating the amount was
materially in line with the provision already recorded in the Group’s 2026 Financial Statements
.
For affiliates and partners evaluating land-based brands with online ambitions, the episode is a reminder to factor compliance history into due diligence. Reputational overhang from AML enforcement can affect licensing timelines and partnership terms in other jurisdictions, even once a settlement is reached.
The bigger picture
Star Entertainment’s problems stem from a broader reckoning with casino AML standards in Australia.
The court also credited the NSW regulatory response to Star’s conduct, including earlier state penalties and the loss of the Sydney casino licence after the Bell inquiry found the company unsuitable in 2022
. The company’s chairman, Soo Kim, noted that
the current ownership and management team were not involved in the actions leading to the proceedings, while affirming the company’s commitment to demonstrating it now has the appropriate leadership and processes
.
The ruling lands against a backdrop of improving underlying performance, with Star having recently returned to profit after cost-cutting. It also arrives as regulators elsewhere continue to make AML enforcement a priority, following the record €37 million fine issued against EOD Code by the Dutch regulator. Together, the cases suggest compliance failures tied to customer monitoring remain one of the costliest categories of regulatory risk across the gambling industry, regardless of jurisdiction.
Sources
October 29, 2026
Machine Games Duty Rises to 25% in UK Budget
UK Chancellor John Healey has confirmed a five-percentage-point rise in Machine Games Duty, taking the rate on higher-stakes Category B gaming machines from 20% to 25%. The increase, announced in the Autumn Budget on 28 October, is intended to help fund a business rates relief package for high streets. It is substantially smaller than the doubling to 40% that had been speculated in the weeks before the statement.
What happened to Machine Games Duty
Machine Games Duty in the UK’s retail gaming sector rose by five percentage points in the Autumn Budget, with the rise from 20 per cent to 25 per cent confirmed by Healey in the House of Commons on Wednesday, October 28
.
The increase applies to Category B machines in casinos, betting shops and bingo venues, but will not affect pubs and seaside arcades, and it will pay for business rates relief that adult gaming centres and vape shops will not be entitled to
.
Healey told the Commons the measure was designed
“to pay for this support for our high streets, I’m raising taxes on gambling by increasing Machine Games Duty from 20 per cent to 25 per cent for higher-stakes machines, whilst protecting pubs and seaside arcades”
. The new rate is due to take effect in April 2027, leaving operators a window to plan for the change.
The decision followed months of lobbying.
An analysis commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council and conducted by Ernst & Young had estimated that raising Machine Games Duty to 40 percent could put up to 1,470 betting shops and 15,900 jobs at risk
. In the event, the government opted for the lower of the two figures under consideration.
Why it matters
The Machine Games Duty rise lands on top of an already heavy tax burden for UK land-based and omnichannel operators.
It comes after the increase in Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40% in April 2026, and ahead of the increase in General Betting Duty from 15% to 25% next April, with retail betting excluded from that latter rise
. Together these changes represent a sustained squeeze on margins across both the digital and retail sides of UK betting and gaming businesses.
Trade body reaction was sharply critical despite the lower-than-feared figure. The Betting and Gaming Council described the rise as a damaging decision that will add cost pressure across the sector.
The change adds further pressure in particular to omnichannel operators such as Paddy Power, Betfred and William Hill, which are already mitigating the impacts of previously announced tax rises
. Investors appeared to take a more sanguine view of the outcome than operators themselves, given that the increase avoided the steeper scenario markets had priced in.
For affiliates and performance marketers, further land-based cost pressure typically accelerates the shift of marketing budgets toward digital acquisition channels, reinforcing the importance of SEO and paid search strategies that can demonstrate efficient player acquisition cost as retail estates contract.
The bigger picture
This is the second consecutive Autumn Budget to target UK gambling taxation, following Rachel Reeves’s near-doubling of Remote Gaming Duty a year earlier. Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government has consistently framed these measures as part of a wider push to fund high street support, positioning gambling taxation as a politically convenient revenue source. The gradual, staged approach, choosing a 25% rate over the 40% alternative, suggests the Treasury remains wary of the shop closures and job losses that trade bodies warn punitive duty rates would trigger.
The outcome also reflects an intense lobbying effort that played out in public over recent weeks, echoing similar pressure seen elsewhere in Europe, as detailed in our coverage of Gibraltar’s gambling tax lobbying push ahead of the UK budget. With General Betting Duty still set to rise next April, UK operators are unlikely to see tax pressure ease in the near term, keeping cost management and channel diversification firmly on the boardroom agenda.
Sources
October 28, 2026