As expected, this has been another intense week in the world of iGaming regarding news. As always, the team at Nostrabet.com is here to show you what’s new and sum up everything important, so let’s not waste time and dive right in.
Felipe Massa Will Continue To Be The Brand Ambassador of Betano
It’s safe to say that Betano has become one of the largest online gambling operators in the world, and for a good reason. The company is famous for its exclusive products, as well as innovative partnerships. One of them is with Felipe Massa, and fans will be delighted that the legendary F1 pilot will continue to be part of Betano’s team.
Massa first became Betano’s ambassador in 2023. After joining the team, he took part in many activities. He most recently visited the operator’s office in Sao Paulo and met with some employees there.
It’s worth noting that Felipe Massa is just one of the many ambassadors that Betano decided to work with. The company recently signed in Kate Tracey and sponsors all sorts of competitions. For example, it has a deal with the UEFA Europa & Conference Leagues until the 2026/2027 season.
Ihor Zarechnyi Is Evoplay’s New CCO
After joining Evoplay in 2021, Ihor Zarechnyi became the Head of Sales. It seems like he did a pretty good job at this position because he was later promoted to Chief Business Development Officer. In other words, he was responsible for the development of new products and improving the company’s growth.
After spending around one year in this role, Zarechnyi became Evoplay’s new CCO. This means he will oversee Evoplay’s partnerships and marketing expansions.
Speaking of expansions and partnership deals, Evoplay made some serious progress lately. For example, Evoplay works alongside Vegas.hu in Hungary, Sesame in Bulgaria and Europebet in Georgia.
New York Posted a $2.48B Wagering Handle For Jan 2025
Since January came to an end, the New York State Gaming Commission posted its monthly wagering handle. People expected to see some jaw-dropping numbers, but even experts were surprised when the commissions announced the $2.47B sports betting handle. This amount surpassed the last record from October 2024, which was $2.32B.
The New York State Gambling Commission reported a monthly GGR of $247M for January, a 49.9% increase over December and an overall increase of 15.7% year over year.
In terms of the leading operators, it seems like bettors in New York prefer using FanDuel. That said, DraftKings is close behind and reported earning around $81.98M in revenue.
Google Will Update Its Gambling Advertising Policy In Certain Countries
Google has always had strict policies regarding gambling advertisements. This continues to be the case, but the company has decided to make some important changes to the “Gambling and Games” Policy in specific countries.
According to the information, the idea behind the update is to force responsible gambling advertising. The changes should take effect after April 14, 2025, and they will force the local gambling advertisers to follow the regulator’s rules. Furthermore, these people must make sure that the ads only target specific countries and display information about responsible gambling.
In addition to the ads created by gambling companies, those that promote gambling content (such as affiliate sites) also need to follow specific rules. For example, they must follow local laws and not be linked to any unlicensed gambling brands.
The Court in Sweden Ruled Against the Swedish Gambling Authority in the Case Against Zimpler
In July 2023, the Swedish Gambling Authority decided to issue an injunction that ordered Zimpler to stop providing BankID as a payment option. According to the commission, this allowed some kinds of unlicensed gambling.
As expected, Zimpler decided to appeal the decision, so the company went straight into the Administrative Court. After around 1 year of legal battle, the court ruled in May 2024 in favor of Zimpler. According to the court, the gambling regulator in Sweden did not have any legal grounds for its decision.
Needless to say, the Swedish Gambling Authority was not happy with the court’s decision, so it decided to go to the Court of Appeal. The latter took some time, but as of Feb 7, 2025, it upheld the Administrative Court’s decision. In other words, the Swedish Gambling Authority did not have the reason and the authority to take action against Zimpler.
Brazil Adds 21 New Operators
South America is one of the fastest-growing regions in the iGaming business, and Brazil is at the forefront of it. Alongside the country’s active operators, the local authorities granted 21 companies a fixed-odds betting license. Following this decision, Brazil has a total of 69 authorized operators.
Interestingly, 20 out of the 21 companies had provisional licenses before that, whereas one did not have anything. Following the changes, the number of fully licensed betting companies in the country is now 35.
What’s interesting about Brazil’s current legal framework is that a licensed operator can have up to 3 brands or betting platforms. To do that, they need to get the authorization (it lasts 5 years) and make a payment of R$30M, around $5.2M. Once ready, companies can use the .bet.br domain for their websites.
Considering the growing number of licensed operators in the country, it comes as no surprise that there are also loads of illegal sites. The authorities are doing an excellent job at stopping them because, according to the stats, more than 5200 sites are no longer operating. What’s even more impressive is that this number is since October 2024.
Stake Must Leave The UK Market
Everyone involved in the online betting/casino industry knows that the UK market is huge. Most people have also heard of Stake because it is one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency operators. Despite that, it seems like the company may exit the UK market following a recent controversy.
After the Gambling Commission’s announcement, the Stake.uk.com site will no longer be available in the country from March 2025. This decision was based on a video in which Stake’s logo appeared next to an adult actress.
After the accident, Stake informed its clients that it will no longer operate in the UK after March 10. To make the story even more complicated, Stake is currently Everton’s shirt sponsor. The Gambling Commission has stated that clubs could be liable for prosecution if they promote unlicensed gambling sites, so it will be interesting to see how they would react.
As for Stake and its operations in the UK, this is not the first time the company has been fined. The first action against it occurred in 2023, and the company was fined $316K for failing to meet the demands for AML and social responsibility.
The Gambling GGR in Denmark Reached 7.27B For 2024
Gambling in Denmark is flourishing, so it’s no surprise that many people were looking forward to the report from the Danish Gambling Authority. The latter released its report for 2024, and it became clear that the overall gross gaming revenue has reached DKK $7.27B (almost $1.02B), a 6.9% increase compared to 2023.
If you dive deep into the report, you will see that the Online Casino CGR is responsible for close to half of that amount (DKK 3.53B). With that said, the betting GGR also experienced an increase from last year (+1.2%). Interestingly, mobile betting is responsible for 66.3% of the “sales”, meaning that many more people gamble on mobile devices than on desktops.
Land-based casinos continue to have a smaller portion of the overall GGR in the country. The stats for 2024 show that they generated 368M, which is just a bit more (1.7%+) than the one in 2023.
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