Betway to Sponsor Manchester United, New Zealand Adds new Gambling Ads Regulation, Betfred to Close its UK Betting Shops & More Weekly iGaming News

Welcome to the hottest iGaming news of the week, brought to you by me and the Nostrabet.com team. We have skimmed through all of the events that took place over the course of the last week, so it’s time to learn what stood out. There are a few intriguing moments that we believe require more attention, so let’s dive in.

New Zealand Introduced Stricty Gambling Ads Regulations

As mentioned before, New Zealand is about to launch its first regulated iGaming market. The action already kicked off with the licenses, but sites will start operating in 2027. Before that, however, the country is looking to refine its legislation, and the latest concerns center on gambling ads.

According to the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs, companies operating in the country follow strict rules to ensure they don’t appeal to those under 18. Operators won’t be able to place their ads near schools and youth events. The same is true for platforms that reach people under the age of 18.

On top of that, advertising must not target people under 25 unless the operator has a sophisticated age-verification system. Companies should also turn off any automated audience expansion features and the ads themselves should not encourage excessive gambling.

Overall, New Zealand wants to ensure that gambling ads are under control. Its neighbor, Australia, was among the first countries in the world to take action in this area.

Betfred will close its UK Betting Shops

Betred’s CEO said that the company may be closing as many as 132 betting shops in the country. This move would reduce its workforce by over 600 employees and it would allow the brand to save a lot of money. The goal of this decision is to mitigate the effects of the UK gambling tax increase.

Some of you may be surprised, but people who’ve been following the UK sports betting scene know what’s going on. Betfred is not the first company to “protest” against the new tax increase. Entertain, the brand behind Ladbrokes and Coral, also announced that it will close shops in Ireland and has decided to close 39 of them.

Evoke is another company that took action following the gambling tax increase and closed down 200 stores this April. We will keep an eye on Betfred’s actions, but it would not be surprising if the brand closes down its stores as well.

Austria Finally Advanced Its Draft Gambling Law

This week, Austria’s Minister of Finance finally submitted a draft on the country’s gambling regulations. He submitted that to the European Commission, which means there is a three-month standstill period before the legislation can come into force. Assuming that happens, it will be the first time the Austrian market opens its doors to online gambling.

Under the legislation, the country will maintain a special exclusion register. The idea will be to see the people who have self-excluded themselves and those that operators have banned. This will prevent these people from switching among different gambling products.

The government’s goal is to establish an open licensing regime for online gambling operators. Companies operating illegally in Austria must stop doing so before January 1, 2027, if they wish to apply for a license. Brands that do not meet the criteria will have to wait for 18 months before they can try and apply again.

Wynn Resort at the Al Marjan Island to Open in September 2027

Despite the military conflicts in the Middle East, Wynn Resorts confirmed that it will do everything possible to open its Al Marjan Island, located in Ras Al Khaimah in September 2027. This became clear after he said he increased the project’s budget by around $600M, mainly due to the conflict in Iran.

Ever since the war began, the Dubai International Airport has not been working properly. The same is true for the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused many issues for Wynn Resorts. It’s definitely one of the more interesting casino projects right now, and no one knows what will happen in the future. Most people hope that the war will be over soon, but we will have to wait and see.

Betway will be Manchester United’s Official Partner from 2026/27

Even though we won’t see Betway’s logo on Manchester United’s shirts due to the sponsorship ban, the company has decided to become the team’s sponsor. The contract is huge, even for a company of the size of Betway, because it’s their biggest deal yet. Under the contract, Betway’s logo will appear on the training kits and be visible during matches at Old Trafford.

Outside of all that, fans will have access to different activities. All of this comes at a cost and according to some rumors, Betway’s deal could be over 18M GBP. Assuming this is the case, it would be one of the most expensive deals ever.

Keep in mind that Betway has extensive experience sponsoring major football clubs. The company had a deal with West Ham and it even appeared on their shirts. It also had different contracts with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea.

The iGaming Market in Ontario reached CA$9.46B in June

Ontario is one of the hottest iGaming regions, and June of this year marked its strongest performance yet. According to the information, Ontario’s regulated online gambling market secured CA$9.46B. This is a massive 30.3% increase from last year.

The GGR for the month reached around CA$400.6M, representing another 30.6% increase from last year. Aside from having access to more operators, the FIFA World Cup 2026 attracted a lot of bettors. There are around 1.32M active players in this region and each one generated close to CA$304 on average.

Romania to Enforce a Tiered Tax Increase on Winnings from Gambling

Romania has one of the most developed iGaming markets in Europe, but its legislation was not on point. The local administration decided to implement a new progressive tax structure on gambling payouts. The goal is to help reduce the country’s budget deficit, which is close to 7% of GDP (the highest in the region right now).

Under the new legislation, people who win up to 2000 EUR will have to pay a 4% tax. Winning between 2K and 13.3K EUR will result in a fixed tax of 80 EUR plus a 20% charge on the amount that is over 2K EUR. Lastly, those who win more than 13.3K EUR will have to pay 2350 EUR plus a 40% tax on any amount over that.

All of these changes come at a time when Romania’s gambling authority is involved in a big corruption scandal. Prosecutors have accused Ana-Maria Badea, the deputy director general, of accepting bribes for the allowance of different gambling products.

It’s safe to say Romania is one of the more interesting iGaming regions right now. We will keep an eye on what’s happening and how the authorities handle it.

Prediction Markets Hot $50B in Revenue in July

Prediction markets are the hottest topic in the iGaming industry right now and the latest numbers show why. July was the best month for these kinds of platforms, with Kalsi and Polymarket generating a total of $50.59B in monthly trading volume. This is the highest it has ever been and the FIFA World Cup 2026 is the reason behind it.

Once the tournament came to an end, however, the numbers slowed down. This proves that major international events significantly affect prediction markets.

Gibraltar remains the only place where these kinds of operators can obtain a license and operate legally. No one knows whether other regulators will follow Gibraltar’s example, but given the growth in popularity, it’s likely to happen.

Sri Lanka Blacklisted 24 Gambling Operators

The government of Sri Lanka decided to take action against several gambling operators following the establishment of the Gambling Regulatory Authority. Normally, these regulators remove various smaller offshore sites, but that is not the case here. The list that came out shows that the regulator in Sri Lanka blocked sites such as Bet365, 1xbet, 22bet, Melbet, Stake, and Parimatch.

The regulator will require all of these sites to obtain a new license to operate in the country. It will be interesting to see how things develop in the future.

Brazil accumulated 1.16B EUR from Bet Taxes

Brazil has among largest sports betting markets in the world and the stats prove it once again. The country collected 1.16B EUR in sports betting taxes in the first six months of the new year. This is almost double last year’s amount, when the country received 635M EUR.

In addition to more people betting on sports, the FIFA World Cup 2026 also affected these numbers. Based on these stats, experts believe that 2026 will surpass 2025’s numbers.