Welcome to this week’s edition of the hottest iGaming news from around the world. We at Nostrabet are back again to bring you the latest insights, trends, and updates from the industry. This week was pretty busy, so let’s not waste any more time and dive right in. Don’t forget that Super Bowl LX starts in just a few days, so be on the lookout for many new, amazing betting opportunities.
Online Video Games Influence Young People to Gamble, According to a Study
Video games have been accused of a lot of things over the years, and the most recent one is from a few days ago. Based on a study from Common Sense Media, it seems like a lot of teens started gambling because of the gambling-style mechanics that are popular in today’s video games. The stats from the survey show that 36% of people between the ages of 11 and 17 have engaged in some sort of gambling activity last year.
After diving deep into the stats, it becomes clear that gaming is the main reason these people have done that. Around 64% of the young people who admitted to having done such things said that these kinds of activities were present in a video game environment.
An interesting fact is that sports betting is not that popular among these people. Only around one in eight respondents reported having wagered on sports.
The topic of video games’ influence on someone’s gambling behaviour is not new. There have been complaints about how the loot box mechanic available in so many games actually stimulates people to do that. There is no action against these things yet, but it will be interesting to see if things will change in the future.
A Class Action in Ohio Labeled Stake.US as an Illegal Casino
Ohio is one of the places where there was an ongoing lawsuit against Stake.us due too the fact that people think it operates as an unlicensed online casino in the state. According to Brenda Krivatch (the plaintiff), she seeks damages and court orders on behalf of other Ohio residents who used money and lost.
Based on the complaint, Stake.us tried to portray itself as a legal sweepstakes casino, which caused people to believe the site was legal in Ohio. However, it turned out that this was not the case because Stake lacked the needed permits from Ohio’s authorities.
During the case, it became clear that people could use Gold Coins, which were the free credits, as well as Stake Cash. According to the lawsuit, the Stake Cash are an identical substitute to real money and the Gold Coins are technically the site’s “promotional decoy”. Every customer could buy coin bundles for real money.
This law case is really interesting because there is an ongoing debate in many other US states regarding sweepstakes casinos. Some jurisdictions have already banned these sites from operating there.
An Australian Influencer is facing a Fine of Up To $1.7M for promoting an Offshore Crypto Casino
Australia seems to be another country where local authorities are trying to crack down on the promotion of unlicensed operators. The most recent story is recent, and it involves an Australian influencer with over 820,000 followers on Instagram. She started promoting an offshore gambling operator.
Dinah continued with his promotional offers, despite the warnings from the ACMA and the latter is set to fine the influencer. An interesting fact is that many of her followers actually reported the posts where she promotes the site in question. Despite that, the company behind Instagram refused to take down most of them and claimed that the content did not violate its scam or fraud policies.
Following the scandal, Dinah decided to stop promoting Rainbet and has removed the link from her bio. An interesting fact is that the specific crypto casino actually blocks users from Australia, but they still find ways to access it using VPNs.
In terms of the Australian authorities, they are doubling down their efforts on illegal gambling. The country has blocked over 1455 illegal gambling sites since 2019 and has fined several companies for violating the rules.
The citation with Meta is also interesting because a lot of people are questioning the company’s decision not to take action. In fact. Meta was “called out” at ICE 2026 when Tim Miller said that it does not proactively remove illegal gambling ads. It will be interesting to see if anything will change in the future.
Genius Sports to Acquire Legend, a sports media company, for $1.2B
This week was interesting because it seems like we have one of the biggest sports betting deals of 2026 so far. According to our information, Genius Sports and Legend have entered into a definitive agreement for the latter’s acquisition. The deal was announced on Friday, 5 and it is valued at $1.2B, one of the highest since the start of 2026.
Indiana is One Step Closer to Banning Sweepstakes Casinos
Lawmakers in Indiana became among the first in the country to give the green light to a potential ban on sweepstakes casinos. HB 1052 was voted on this week, which means it will prohibit sweepstakes casinos from operating in the state.
If the new regulations come into effect, lawmakers will have the chance to impose civil penalties of up to $100,000 on operators of the games.
It’s worth noting that Indiana is just one of the states that is taking active steps to ban sweepstakes casinos. Six states have already done that in 2025, such as California, New York and New Jersey. Louisiana seems to be next on the list, but we will have to wait until the ban becomes active.
There are also a load of different state regulators that have sent cease-and-desist letters to different sweepstakes operators. 2026 will be a tough year for sweepstakes casinos, so it will be interesting to see what will happen with the industry.
The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland can Now issue Betting Licenses
An interesting change took place a few days ago in Ireland, as the country’s Minister of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration granted the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland greater powers. Based on the information, the latter can now issue betting licenses because it is Ireland’s new regulator. Every single site wishing to operate legally in Ireland will have to submit its application and the authority will be the one to decide who gets the license.
According to our information, there will be three types of licenses – B2C, B2B and charity gambling activities. Starting with the B2C, they will mostly focus on in-person betting, as well as online betting.
The B2B licenses will allow the companies that hold it to sell or supply gambling products or different gambling-related services. Lastly, the Irish government can also issue licenses to companies that offer things like pool betting or lotteries.
On top of that, GRAI will have the power to issue fines of up to 20 million EUR. The commission will also ensure that licensees are complying with new restrictions, such as banning credit cards (people won’t be able to use them to make transactions). Operators will also have to allow players to set limits on how much money they spend.
There will also be a ban on having ATM machines on gambling premises. Moreover, operators will have to be careful when offering things like free bets, free credits, and other similar offers.
As expected, there will also be rules on advertising. People will have to opt-in to receive marketing communications and there will be gambling on TV and radio between 5:30 AM and 9 PM.
The Netherlands Could Fully Ban Gambling Ads
The Dutch government decided to take a strong stance against gambling ads and plans to fully ban them. Moreover, it wants to restrict the online licenses and limit the number of sites that are available in the country.
As expected, not everyone in the Netherlands was on board with this decision. According to some people, a total ad ban could drive players to the black market. This comes just days after it became clear that the black market in the country is growing.
It is important to know that this is not the first time the Netherlands has proposed to introduce a gambling ban. The same happened in 2023, but instead of banning them, the government decided to severely restrict them. There were also regulations on online advertising to prevent companies from targeting people under 24.
2026 is an interesting year for the Netherlands because it marks 5 years since the launch of the Netherlands’ legal gambling market. This means that many operators will have to renew their licenses to keep operating in the market. Who knows, we may not see all of them in the next couple of months.
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