SBC News

🎥 New Gambling Commission data points to a link between black market use and problem gambling. Among people with detected payments to illegal operators, 45% scored 8 or higher on the PGSI. For licensed gamblers overall, it was 6%. It also found that people who start using illegal sites don’t tend to leave licensed ones. But the Commission is clear about the limits. The data can’t prove cause, and it can’t size the black market. Plus: Kalshi hits $40bn valuation and Dutch regulators report a shrinking market.

Alexey Sparivak of TrafficStars explains how Gryzo AI, the network's new LLM-based assistant, heightens efficiency for media buyers and publishers. 🗣️"As many traffic sources become harder to scale under stricter advertising policies and rising costs, more media buying teams are looking for alternative channels to keep growing." 🗣️"Building a campaign manually means working through targeting options, pricing models, campaign structures and bid settings before a single impression is served." 🗣️"Performance decisions depend on understanding which traffic sources are delivering valuable users, and where acquisition costs are becoming less efficient." 🗣️"Accurate conversion tracking is essential for evaluating acquisition performance, particularly when advertisers need to distinguish between registrations, first-time deposits, and other conversion events."

Few suppliers openly acknowledge that their content can compete with established betting categories. Our CEO Gal Ehrlich explains why that can make commercial sense: “The margins that you can have from a product like eLeagues are way higher than you can have on a regular football match, like the Premier League in the UK.” Speaking with James Ross of SBC News, he also discusses how BETER’s 740,000+ annual fast-paced sports and esports events help fill gaps in the sporting calendar, and why we don’t call eLeagues “virtuals”. 🔗 Read the interview: https://lnkd.in/da3SsPbK

Kalshi has achieved its long-held ambition of a $40bn valuation. The company secured the milestone via a $1bn Series G funding round co-led by Wellington Management and Sequoia. However, the milestone comes amid mounting regulatory pressure, with Utah becoming the latest US state to take legal action against the prediction market giant. https://lnkd.in/eT9-QZnp

The performative compliance era must come to an end. 1xCare’s advisory committee Simon Westbury, Sissel WeitzhandlerQuirino Mancini, Chris Bird, outline their strategy following their panel at SBC Summit 2026. They say player protection must be integrated at the very conception of a product, not bolted on as an afterthought before delivery. Read the full feature here: https://lnkd.in/e4N7hRh2 #playerprotection #igaming #sportsbook

“To be honest, when you’re adding more content, there’s always some level of cannibalisation.” But could cannibalisation actually improve sportsbook profitability? Gal Ehrlich, CEO of BETER, believes shifting bettors towards fast-paced content such as eLeagues can deliver stronger margins than traditional sporting events. Speaking to SBC News, Ehrlich explores how BETER’s portfolio of more than 740,000 annual events is helping operators fill gaps in the sporting calendar, improve player engagement and rethink the economics of their sportsbook offering. Read the full interview: https://lnkd.in/evehk9M3

🎥 Machine Games Duty is rising from 20% to 25%, and the industry is not holding back. Entain says it will cost its UK and Ireland division around £25m before mitigating measures. The Betting and Gaming Council, citing EY data, warns almost 9,000 jobs and 1,000 betting shops and casinos are at risk. evoke says the rise hands a further advantage to illegal operators. The Bingo Association Ltd expects around 77 clubs to become loss-making. Nigel Farage says that if you want a big bet, “you do it on the black market”. Also today: Malta’s 2027 budget raises costs for non-EU workers, just as a CJEU ruling on Bill 55 approaches on 19 November.

The sudden collapse of Brazil’s regulated online market sent shockwaves through the industry. Even if the market eventually returns, the reputational scar will remain. BetConstruct AI’s VP of Latin America, FABIO TIBERIA, discusses the operational fallout of this volatility and how operators must pivot to survive in the region. "Historia magistra vitae — history is the teacher of life. When regulation becomes more restrictive, uncertain or complex, markets often move toward models that are easier to supervise, control and integrate within established physical networks." Read Fabio Tiberia’s full analysis of the LatAm market's future here: https://lnkd.in/eugYDRSx

Following Brazil’s sudden provisional ban on online betting, many assumed heavily invested B2B providers would struggle. But as FIRST.bet CEO Tom Light said, regulatory roadblocks are only a test of patience if your platform is built with agility. FIRST.bet is accelerating its push into Europe and Africa while Brazil remains in limbo Read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/eFTuctSp

How can the industry move from AI hype to actually delivering results? BetConstruct AI’s Chief AI Officer, Mushegh Khachatryan, outlines how machine learning is shifting from a background tool to an active commercial driver. "We are moving from dashboards that display information to AI systems that understand, analyse and eventually help execute tasks. Our Operational Copilot is being built around this idea: the interface is conversational, while the complexity remains behind it." Read the full guide to practical AI adoption here: https://lnkd.in/eYRvHWkW