NAAIG-ing doubts
Tensions running high between B&M and online gaming
Not Actually About iGaming: accusations of hypocrisy fly.
In +More: Kalshi ‘adjusts the odds’, Senate fail on BBB adjustment.
California sweepstakes bill returns for a second hearing today.
UK: Labour MP calls for doubling of UK gambling taxes.
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Fight night
Cannibals at the gates: Long-running tensions between land-based casinos and iGaming operators have flared up again, with accusations of hypocrisy lobbed at the traditional names for claiming consumer protection, not market share protection, is their true goal.
Temper: At a tempestuous panel at last week’s National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) summer meeting, Churchill Downs lobbyist Shannon McCracken said iGaming is “the most addictive form of gambling” and blamed it for slumping land-based revenues.
Tantrum: She cited more than 20 failed state bills in 2024 and 2025 as proof that lawmakers are cooling on the vertical, adding that younger users aged 17-23 were particularly at risk from “a non-stop slot machine in your pocket.”
Horsin’ around: Churchill Downs, Cordish, and Monarch Casino formed NAAiG earlier this year to oppose further expansion of iGaming in the US. The group insists that pari-mutuel wagering is fundamentally different due to its pacing and ties to live events.
Hold your horses: Betr’s Andrew Winchell challenged McCracken directly during the panel, comparing her logic to banning mobile banking to protect bank tellers. Enter John Pappas of the iDevelopment and Economic Association, who said Churchill Down, as a vocal member of the National Association Against iGaming (NAAiG), doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
Pappas shared the stage during the debate, but took to LinkedIn yesterday to issue a public rebuttal after NAAiG doubled down, noting its members profit from the same digital dynamics they claim to oppose.
He highlighted TwinSpires, Churchill Downs’ 24/7 online betting platform active in nearly 40 states, as a wildly successful example of iGaming.
“Their active participation in online gambling directly undermines their argument against the regulated online casino industry,” he said.
Protection racket: Pappas said NAAiG’s claims about player protection fell flat, as their own platforms use digital ID checks and RG tools they claim others can’t rely on.
“NAAiG’s selective argumentation, contradicting the reality of their own members' practices, reveals their true interest may be less about consumer protection and more about protecting their own market advantages,” he said.
Truth’s not rigid: In a separate, and equally charged, panel on prediction markets, Kalshi’s legal counsel accused the NCLGS crowd of only expressing concern when consumers lost money on event contracts, while ignoring similar risks in more familiar markets.
Josh Sterling, of Milbank and a former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) staffer, argued that event contracts traded on CFTC-licensed exchanges are legally distinct from gambling and fall under exclusive federal jurisdiction.
He dismissed state concerns around harm and addiction, saying: “People are adults. If they lose their shirt, that’s on them.”
NCLGS President Shawn Fluharty questioned whether the CFTC has the resources to oversee consumer-facing betting products at scale.
Sterling rejected that concern outright: “I just wish, once in my goddamn life, the government would not say, ‘Boy, if only we had more resources, we could do our job.’”
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+More
Scandal: The World Series of Poker in Las Vegas is at the center of another sweepstakes controversy after allegations emerged that players allegedly colluded to help win a prize offered by the World Poker Tour’s sweepstakes poker product, ClubWPT Gold. The poker site created the Gold Rush promotion in connection with the WSOP but as a contest that was not sanctioned by the WSOP.
Kalshi adjusted the odds on a number of unusual bets made earlier this month, according to a report from InGame which said a technical error involving a large trader’s systems was uncovered, posing questions about how adjusted prices are determined. The website noted the decision comes a little over a week after Kalshi placed $162,000 worth of trades — all made in a 12-second window — under review.
Senate Democrats have failed to reverse a newly enacted rule that will cap gambling loss deductions at 90% of winnings, down from 100%. The change, buried in President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, takes effect in 2026 and has alarmed industry stakeholders.
DraftKings has reached an agreement with the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection to refund around 7,000 state residents a combined total of $3m after an investigation into the company’s marketing practices concluded that DraftKings offered promotions without fully disclosing the associated terms and conditions.
Bally’s bid for a casino license in the Bronx has been rejected by New York City Council, as lawmakers voted down the rezoning application. The $4bn gaming and hospitality proposal is all but dead in the water, leaving a handful of names to chase the three licenses.
France’s gambling regulator has fined an unnamed operator €75,000 ($87,000) for repeatedly failing to submit accurate game data over two years, including 900,000 incorrect entries and several million euros in missing bets.
Croatia is planning major gambling reforms by 2026, including mandatory ID checks, a self-exclusion register, strict ad limits, and a progressive tax on winnings. PM Andrej Plenković called the law a priority, citing youth addiction and digital exposure as key concerns.
What we’re reading
“Since POGOs were banned, the Philippines has been through a traumatic review of the scale of Chinese organised crime in the country, how it happened, and how to deal with it.” Martin Purbrick, betting on chaos, the Philippines battle against Chinese organised crime.
California sweepstakes fight
Voices carry: A bill to ban sweepstakes in California returns for a second hearing today before the Senate Public Safety Committee. Despite advancing unanimously, lawmakers had some concerns over the rushed timeline and limited stakeholder input, which are expected to be addressed in the second reading of AB 831.
Opposition to the bill has emerged from a coalition including ACLU California Action, the Association of National Advertisers, which includes Google, NBCUniversal, and other Fortune 500 companies, and the Social and Promotional Games Association (SPGA).
They warn the bill could jeopardise lawful marketing promotions, and that the broad language, introduced via a gut-and-amend process, risks killing off common promotional programmes.
The SPGA said the alliance reflects “a shared belief” that AB 831 could cause unintended consequences without delivering real consumer protections.
Citing a promotion from Coinbase as an example of the type of offering which would be banned, the SPGA said “this is not smart legislation.”
“It’s a gift to bad actors and a loss for consumers,” it added.
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UK tax threat
Another level: A Labour MP has called for online gambling taxes to be raised to levels way above the likely harmonized 21% that many analysts consider to be the likely outcome from the ongoing review being undertaken by the government.
Labour MP Alex Ballinger says the UK should look to emulate the tax rates prevalent in other European countries such as Greece where it is set at 35%.
Speaking to PoliticsHome, Ballinger said the way to reduce gambling games was via taxation.
Populist: Citing evidence from a Social Market Foundation report late last year, Ballinger said that there was widespread public support for raising gambling taxes. “It's the most popular rise that could be proposed at the moment,” he told the website.
“It's an area that the public recognises is causing harm,” he added. “They would be sympathetic towards making companies like that pay.”
Same song sheet: The government is currently consulting over the harmonization of the three currently applicable tax rates ranging from the general betting duty set at 15% of gross profits, a pool betting duty also set at 15% and a remote gaming duty set at 21%.
Ballinger said that he and other members of the cross-party Gambling Related Harm All-Party Parliamentary Group, met with secretary to the Treasury, James Murray, last week.
But while he said that simplifying the tax system is a “good thing”, he told PoliticsHome that online casinos and slots should keep paying a higher rate of tax than “your local bingo hall or bookmakers.”
Higher bar: Separately, Harry Quilter-Pinner, executive director at the Institute for Public Policy Research, was quoted in the FT this past weekend as recommending that the government should move to a rate of 41% across all gambling products in order to help fill the hole in the government’s books.
Quilter-Pinner said that a remote gaming duty of 21% would be “far lower” than many other countries.
“Applying the same levy rates across online betting, slots and casinos and Machine Game Duty makes sense too,” he told the paper.
Calendar
Jul 14-16: OIGA, Oklahoma City
Sep 3-4: Knownow conference, London
Sep 16-17: Player Protection Symposium, Lisbon
Oct 20-23: IAGR, Toronto
Nov 18: Sustainable Gambling Conference, Brussels
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