Bet365 layoffs, Gambling Commission chair coming in, illegal gambling on the rise

Bet365 has announced that it will be shedding 340 jobs with the majority coming out of Stoke-on-Trent, the company’s headquarters city, where it employs 5,500 people. The company cited the increasingly difficult operational climate, including regulatory pressure and mounting tax:

"As an international business, we continually review and assess our operations to ensure the business's long-term future. We're currently facing a highly competitive trading environment, plus increased regulatory and tax-related costs," a company spokesperson said.

The UK Gambling Commission, the United Kingdom’s gambling regulator, will soon have a new Chair.

On Monday this week, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) confirmed that Ruth Evans, a prominent UK regulatory figure and consumer champion, will assume the role of Chair of the Gambling Commission.

Business and finance

DraftKings and Integrity Compliance 360 have announced a new partnership that seeks to strengthen the company's delivery of responsible gaming tech.

This is the first-ever single-operator integration in IC365’s ProhiBet and ProhiTrade secure network, with the idea behind the tools simple enough: ensure that no suspicious betting or trading activity, pointing to corruption or fixing, is taking place, the companies commented in an official press statement.

A new report by Euromat has estimated that 25% of the total online gambling market in 2025 in Europe is driven through illegal gambling operators.

By Europe, the Euromat survey conducted by Regulus Partners and Helios meant 28 European online gambling markets, including the EU27, excluding Malta and Luxembourg, and adding Serbia, Montenegro, and the United Kingdom.

Unlicensed or offshore gambling operators continue to generate substantial gambling revenue from European nations, and there seems to be little possible to stop this trend immediately.

At the same time, the Betting and Gaming Council has cited a new report in which it claims thatillegal gambling globally has reached $50bn. In the United Kingdom, illegal operators were resorting to "black hat" practices, where they would target vulnerable consumers specifically.

These operators’ marketing materials included language such as "Not on GAMSTOP" to ensure that they specifically focus on players who had previously excluded themselves and were therefore vulnerable.

As the NFL season now unfolds, Optimove Insights has released a survey assessing gambling behavior from last season, with 84% of NFL bettors placing a live wager at some point during the last season, and offering advice to sportsbooks on how to capitalize on current bettor behavior.

Laws and regulation

A two-judge panel in a federal court in Utah has decided that the state may continue to apply its gaming laws against Kalshi, a prediction market platform. The panel denied the company's request for an emergency injunction against the state and to block further attempts to regulate it under gaming laws, which could expose it to civil and criminal liability. Read the full story here.

The NFL sports betting handle in the 2025/2026 season has fallen almost flat, with modest gains year-over-year, the American Gaming Association said in a new press release. Part of this trend has to do with the rise of prediction markets.

Responsible gambling

Gen Zers and Millennials make up the bulk of sports gamblers, accounting for 88% of all bettors. This comes against a backdrop of a stronger trend for more people turning to betting on sports, also as part of a financial strategy.

According to Bank of America, about 5% of its customers participated in online gambling in July, but consumer adoption increased by 40% in the month, compared to the start of the year. Find out more about BofA’s survey here.

Jennifer Grant Weinandy, an assistant professor of psychology at Ohio University, has recently spoken to WOUB Public Media, discussing problem gambling, gambling addiction, sports betting and prediction markets.

She touched on the psychology of addiction and how gamblers often end up believing that they can influence random outcomes. She also spoke about the need to regulate prediction markets, arguing that it appears too strongly linked to gambling.

BetBlocker has teamed up with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to offer localized self-exclusion options for vulnerable consumers, and specifically through the introduction of Vietnamese and traditional & simplified Chinese, the latest supported languages by the charity.

BetBlocker has focused on bringing anonymous, free, and reliable self-exclusion solutions in native languages for vulnerable communities, insisting that this is the best way to engage with these individuals and help launch them on their journey to recovery.

The voice of the industry

Craig Asling, Booming Games' Director of Games, has spoken about staying competitive, what drives differentiation, and how suppliers manage to stay relevant in an overly saturated market, giving examples from his company’s own business track record in this exclusive interview for Casino Guru News.

Matthew Attard, Head of Client Success at Vivid Gaming, discusses the studio's approach to crafting new games and how its recent partnership with Betsson has impacted this, while also acknowledging the challenges posed by an increasingly saturated market. Read the full story here.

Not least, NFL insider Jason La Canfora has continued to share his insights on Casino Guru News. You can read up on his latest updates here, here, and here.

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