Tax hike under cover of harmonization could produce a half-a-billion profit hit.
Polymarket gets US go-ahead from the CFTC.
GeoComply: Offshore crackdowns are working.
Greyhound Board of Great Britain appointment signals change of strategy for dog racing.
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Hitting every fence
Hit and run: An increase in the rate of UK gambling taxes to 40% would cause over a half-a-billion hit to Flutter Entertainment’s bottom line and even at a harmonized rate of 25% would cause a $175m hit to the company’s EBITDA.
The new analysis from Bank of America makes it plain the extent to which Flutter – and by extension the rest of the UK-facing operators – are sensitive to tax hikes.
The potential for a tax hike was blamed by Flutter for its decision this week to cancel its funding of a horseracing docuseries that has been a minor success on terrestrial TV.
The Rachel papers: The UK government has said this year’s Budget announcement will be on November 26, when Chancellor Rachel Reeves will be under pressure to raise taxes across the economy to ease the country’s parlous financial state.
Anti-gambling lobbyists have called for gambling taxes to be raised substantially.
The Social Market Foundation, the Institute for Public Policy Research and former prime minster Gordon Brown have all called for a swingeing increase to 40%.
Lanes merge ahead: The calls come at the same time as the government is consulting on the potential to harmonize the UK’s gambling tax rates and merge General Betting Duty, Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) and Pool Betting Duty.
Tax experts have said the plan may be framed as a simplification exercise, but in reality it risks creating greater complexity.
Hitting them where it hurts: The rate most often cited as the potential jumping off point for harmonization is the current rate of RGD, 21%. As the Bank of America analysis suggested, this would still cause an $80m EBITDA headwind for Flutter even after mitigation attempts.
Gone lame: According to the Racing Post, Flutter has told the producers of the program Champions: Full Gallop that it cannot commit to a third series in the current climate, blaming the potential for a hike in gambling taxes for the move.
“We deeply regret that we’re unable to commit to a third series at this time given the uncertainty over what is going to happen in the autumn Budget and the threat of a significant tax rise on bookmakers,” the company told the Post.
“As previously stated, we’re reviewing our wider investment plans in racing, but we remain steadfast supporters of the sport and committed to helping grow it."
The Bank of America team said the UK still represented 26% of Flutter Entertainment’s revenues in 2024, falling to an estimated 21% this year.
The team noted the “major regulatory reviews” in recent years, including stake and deposit caps, advertising limits/bans and now the threat of increased taxes.
B2B suppliers in online gambling are facing a new reality.
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Unibet fine: The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has imposed a penalty on Optdeck, the operator managing the Unibet brand in the Netherlands, after repeated violations involving unauthorised betting markets that took place between October 2022 and May 2025. The KSA has levied a penalty of €75,000 per week, escalating until reaching the maximum cap of €450,000.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has clarified that its National Database of Restricted Persons is not a list of gambling addicts, but of individuals barred from entering gambling venues, mainly government officials restricted by law. The statement followed reports of a hack, with PAGCOR stressing the data did not come from its own site but likely from a licensed operator.
France’s gambling regulator has appointed Sophie Namer as head of its new Directorate of Enforcement, created in July to bolster action against illegal gambling. Namer, an administrative magistrate, took up the role on September 1, with Jérôme Labarbe as deputy director.
Ukraine has introduced a nationwide system to track all gambling transactions in real time, covering both land-based and online operators. The State Online Monitoring System, announced August 31, will let new regulator PlayCity verify operator data live to support enforcement and policy decisions.
Hopes for legalised gambling in Texas have dimmed after Lt. Governor Dan Patrick confirmed he will seek another four-year term. Patrick has blocked Democratic-led gambling bills from reaching the Senate, while Republicans have no plans to introduce their own, leaving the legislative deadlock intact.
UK regulators upheld a complaint against a paid-for X ad for KamaGames’ Blackjack 21: Blackjackist that claimed “No purchases.” The Advertising Standards Authority found the game contained in-app purchases, including random-item features, and ruled the ad misleading under advertising code rules.
Player Protection Specialist – Dublin
Fraud & Payments Analyst – Cyprus
Head of Compliance – Limassol
Polymarket go-ahead
She asked me to untie her: Polymarket has been granted approval by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to treat certain trades as options rather than swaps, opening the door for punters ahead of Sunday’s NFL kickoff.
CEO Shayne Coplan declared the platform had “been given the green light to go live in the USA” following the ruling, crediting regulators for moving at “record timing.”
The ‘no action’ letter is the last regulatory hurdle before launch, with only minor rulebook revisions still under review.
Polymarket was previously banned in the US, and Coplan had his Manhattan home raided by FBI agents last year.
The crypto-powered market maker said it has been on a waiting list for CFTC approval since August.
The NFL’s opening weekend is one of the biggest days of the betting calendar and a potential record-setter for Polymarket's prediction markets rival Kalshi.
Redzone: Kalshi itself is still litigating several state regulators and juggling warnings from Nevada and Ohio, casting a cloud over its expansion into California.
Jefferies analyst David Katz said the controversies “suggest a measured approach from public OSB operators is likely” as they weigh exposure to prediction markets.
Katz added that “a federal legalization is possible, which could trigger state-level action with a wide range of potential outcomes in terms of regulation and taxes.”
Despite challenges, Kalshi continues to expand, this week self-certifying a new parlay-style contract and linking up with trading app Webull for football event markets.
Total global trading on Polymarket stands at $853.5m, triple Kalshi’s volume, but the US platform may initially be fenced off to comply with anti-money laundering requirements.
GeoComply report
Lonely island: As the NFL season kicks off, new GeoComply analysis suggests state crackdowns on offshore sportsbooks are driving measurable gains for the legal market.
Across 10 similarly sized states, those that issued cease-and-desist letters or other actions against offshore operators saw 10% higher YoY growth in active players during August, the geolocation experts said.
New account sign-ups surged even more, with enforcement states recording a 39% higher increase than their non-enforcement counterparts, the research revealed.
“When states crack down on illegal sportsbooks, players migrate to the legal, licensed market, where they’re protected and where their play generates state tax revenue,” said GeoComply CEO Kip Levin.
Levin added that enforcement also raises consumer awareness, since “players often can’t tell the difference between a state-regulated sportsbook and an offshore site.”
The national: The new data follows an American Gaming Association report last month estimating illegal gambling still makes up nearly a third of the US market.
A bipartisan coalition of 50 state attorneys general has urged the Department of Justice to intervene, noting state-level actions alone cannot eliminate offshore betting.
Levin said: “Illegal offshore sportsbooks remain the biggest competitor to the legal market, not other regulated operators.”
Last year, GeoComply released a video warning of the dangers of offshore gambling, and the firm said at least 15 states have since taken enforcement steps.
Levin stressed that “a coordinated federal effort would further accelerate the positive shift that has been started by state-level enforcement.”
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Greyhound Board appointment
Out of the traps: Sir Philip Davies has been appointed as the chair of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), a move that signals a change of strategy for greyhound racing’s regulator.
He replaces former RSPCA chief executive Jeremy Cooper, who was recruited to see off challenges to the sport from animal welfare charities and activists.
Former MP Davies is also chair of independent bookmaker Star Sports and one of his main priorities will be to lobby for a statutory levy on bookmakers’ greyhound revenue to replace the voluntary levy that currently funds the Board.
He is well placed to do so as a former chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Betting and Gaming and a member of the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee.
Take me to the levy: Star Sports bought the Pelaw track last year and has one of the four promoter seats on the GBGB board. The company is owned by greyhound racing enthusiast Ben Keith, who has supported the GBGB’s campaign for a statutory levy.
Historically, corporate bookmakers have been vehemently opposed to a statutory levy, even threatening EU legal action on the basis that it contravened EU rules on state aid.
However, corporate books’ influence has waned since the sale of the Newcastle and Sunderland tracks by William Hill to ARC in 2017.
The closure of Crayford by Entain in January means it only has three votes out of 20 for the four promoter seats on the GBGB board.
Fight for your rights to party: Since buying Sunderland and Newcastle, ARC has added to its portfolio of tracks by buying Nottingham, Perry Barr and Central Park and has formed Premier Greyhound Racing to run the tracks and exploit their media rights.
They have also signed media deals with four independent tracks and last year poached the Entain tracks’ rights from rival SIS.
In recent years, greyhound racing has been characterised by a media rights war between PGR and SIS. Currently, PGR has the rights to 12 tracks, while SIS has the rights to eight.
While SIS supplements its coverage with an exclusive deal with Irish tracks, it doesn’t own any tracks and is only represented by two places on the GBGB board by Pelaw and Harlow.
The diminishing influence of corporate bookmakers on the political direction of greyhound racing means the sport is now fully committed to pressing for a statutory levy.
The appointment of Sir Phillip could also help bring it to fruition.
Calendar
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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