Latest Gambling News: Alabama Brings Gaming Bills Back To The Legislature, and more

Catch up on some of the stories our gambling compliance analysts have covered lately, and stay up-to-date on the latest news.‍

Alabama Brings Gaming Bills Back To The Legislature

Republican Senator Greg Albritton has filed legislation that would legalize several forms of gaming in Alabama, a state legislature that has debated but failed to pass a bill over the last decade.

Senate Bill 293 would establish a state lottery known as the Alabama Education Lottery. Albritton also proposes to legalize four land-based casinos, as well as one satellite casino, that could offer both retail gaming and slot machines. A fifth casino would be part of a gaming compact negotiated between the governor and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

Last year, gaming legislation passed the House only to come up one vote short in the Senate. Albritton did not vote in favor of the legislation.

SB 293 proposes a constitutional amendment, which, if ratified, would create the Alabama Education Lottery and Gambling Commission to administer and regulate the lottery and gambling within the state.

A fiscal note estimates that a lottery would generate between $198m to $285m annually, after the payment of lottery operating expenses, and all prizes. Albritton’s bill would tax gaming revenues and online sports betting at 20 percent, but the commission could increase the rate to a maximum of 30 percent.

Representative Jeremy Gray, a Democrat, has introduced a gaming measure in the House. House Bill 490 would establish the Alabama Gaming Commission and legalize sports betting with the proceeds funding Name Image and Likeness programs “to protect and support high school student-athletes and coaches.”

BlueBet Shifts TopSport Customers To Betr Platform  

Australian online bookmaker listco BlueBet, one of two suitors for a takeover of Australian rival PointsBet, has announced the acquisition of the second rival Merlehan Bookmaking, trading as TopSport.

BlueBet, which trades as “betr”, said it completed the acquisition for a cash payment of A$1.52m ($960,000) and issuance of shares to Merlehan’s owners, as well as a possible topping up of cash and options.

TopSport customer data was migrated to betr immediately before BlueBet announced the purchase to the Australian Securities Exchange on Tuesday (April 1).

The deal marks the latest consolidation gambit among corporate bookmakers struggling with a maturing Australian online market, shrinking margins and growing community and political hostility to the wagering segment’s public profile.

TopSport CEO Tristan Merlehan will also join BlueBet management as chief trading officer, according to the statement.

“With the successful integration of TopSport, our focus now shifts to further inorganic growth opportunities in the Australian market, including our compelling and fully funded proposal to acquire PointsBet,” BlueBet CEO Andrew Menz said.

“By providing the flexibility for PointsBet shareholders to choose a mix of cash and scrip, we believe ours is a superior proposal for shareholders to realise value in the short and long term,” Menz said.

South Africa National Lottery Bid Saga Takes Another Turn

South Africa’s ongoing national lottery saga has taken another unexpected turn, as a new operator will be announced “on or before Wednesday, May 28, 2025”, according to the minister overseeing the controversial tender.

Parks Tau, the minister of trade, industry and competition, reportedly posted the announcement on a closed platform used to communicate with approved bidders.

It marks a major turn from Tau’s announcement in February that stated the bid period to operate the national lottery would be extended by 12 months.

As the current licence held by Ithuba expires at the end of May 2025, questions are being raised about the potential impact of selecting a new operator, as it could take months for them to get up and running, depending on how smooth the transition is. Many local media reports claim that sales will likely be suspended during the transition period.

NSW Fines Colossalbet Over Drugs, Sex In Marketing

Australian corporate bookmaker Colossalbet has been convicted and fined A$60,000 ($38,000) over a social media campaign that alluded to drug abuse, sex acts and adult website Pornhub.

A magistrate at Sydney’s Downing Centre local court fined the company on Monday (March 31) following guilty pleas on five counts and after determining the ads from October 2023 breached content prohibitions in New South Wales (NSW) state’s Betting and Racing Act 1988.

The latest in a long line of corporate bookmakers to be prosecuted for advertising breaches in NSW, Colossalbet brand owner Ryman Racing is also the first to be fined for salacious content.

“This is the first time a wagering operator in NSW has been prosecuted and convicted for publishing ads which offend standards of decency, dignity and good taste,” said Bernadette Beard, acting executive director of regulatory operations with Liquor & Gaming NSW.

Beard dismissed Colossalbet owner Mark Ryman’s comments in the Sydney Morning Herald in February that the marketing images posted by a young employee were a “harmless mistake”.

“This is a serious penalty,” she said. “I would urge betting providers to take note and ensure the standards in the Act are being met in their advertising.”

Colossalbet’s campaign of five posts on Facebook and Instagram recycled a controversial photograph of a professional rugby league player with a bag of white powder in his mouth on social media accounts belonging to its Punt Hub subsidiary.

The offending image included a rendering of “Punt Hub” in the manner of the Pornhub logo and a sexually suggestive tag line.

Other captioned images in the campaign included a purportedly real sex act between two people and a woman looking up at a man’s crotch.

Fraudulent Online Casinos Target Arizona Gamblers

The Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) issued a consumer protection alert on Monday (March 31) warning residents that fraudulent operators are “falsely claiming” that legitimate Arizona casinos have launched online casino platforms.

Online casinos, also known as iGaming, are not legal in Arizona. The ADG confirmed it had received multiple reports of fraudulent online casinos targeting residents, as well as complaints from patrons who have been misled.

“These scams are being widely disseminated through social media advertisements directing consumers to download apps and visit websites and are enticing unsuspecting consumers to spend money on illegitimate games.”

The state agency did not identify any of the illegal sites, but has a list online of all regulated casinos, sports betting and fantasy sports operators in Arizona.

The ADG noted that some of the deceptive practices often used by these sites include mimicking the branding of legitimate Arizona casinos and offering enticing promotions that appear too good to be true.

Fraudulent sites often use web addresses that closely mimic legitimate casino names but have slight misspellings or different domain extensions (e.g., .net instead of .com), according to the ADG.

Kentucky Lawmakers Override Veto On Gaming Bill

Kentucky legislators have responded to Democratic Governor Andy Beshear's line-item vetoes of a bill relating to changes within the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation (KHRGC).

Republicans, who have a supermajority in the state legislature, overrode the line-item vetoes on House Bill 566 on Thursday (March 27) by a 72-22 vote in the House, and a 30-6 vote in the Senate. The Kentucky General Assembly adjourned its 2025 legislative session on Friday.

Beshear vetoed parts of the bill because it took away the governor’s authority to remove the KHRGC’s president whom he appoints and allowed the agency to move responsibilities of the “Office of Charitable Gaming into other corporation offices, further eroding the important separation … from the for-profit industries of horseracing and sports wagering.”

“It appears there may have been a significant conflict of interest in how the corporation went about drafting this bill. I have serious concerns about the operations and finances of the corporation,” Beshear said in his veto message.

The governor vetoed Senate Bill 299 last year, which created the KHRGC, but Republicans overrode that decision.

The new agency replaced the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and Department of Charitable Gaming, both of which were under the Public Protection Cabinet. It oversees horseracing, sports betting, and charitable gaming.

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