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The Secretariat for Prizes and Bets (SPA) published an ordinance on Friday (April 11) to suspend four provisional licences for fixed-odds betting that were granted at the end of December.
The SPA’s ordinance suggested the four operators had failed to submit compliance certification reports within a required 60-day period. Their licences are now suspended for 90 days but can be restored if certifications are submitted within this time.
The four suspended licensees include two major operators in Brazil’s Caixa Loterias national lottery and media conglomerate Grupo Silvio Santos’ Todos Querem Jogar that have yet to launch their online betting platforms in the Brazilian regulated market.
However, another operator named in the SPA ordinance was PixBet, one of the most prominent online betting brands in Brazil and the main sponsor of Flamengo football team.
In a statement, PixBet said it believed it had submitted the required certifications and that the company would be working directly with officials at the SPA to resolve “a possible error of analysis in the technical process”.
According to BNLData, PixBet on Saturday obtained an emergency order from a Brazilian federal court to allow the company to remain in operation.
The gambling authority for Argentina’s Buenos Aires Province has opened a tender process to award new concessions for the province’s seven land-based casinos.
The seven properties are all being operated under extensions to their original concessions, and operators applying for a new 20-year contract will be required to invest in modernising the facilities through upgraded slot machines and entertainment offerings, according to a statement published by the Provincial Institute of Lotteries and Casinos (IPLyC) on Friday (April 11).
Bids on the concession contracts are due by July 8.
The seven casinos are located in the towns of Necochea, Mirama, Tandil, Sasso, Hermitage, Mar de Ajo and Sierra de la Ventana.
The wider gambling market of the province of Buenos Aires includes seven licensed online gambling platforms and several dozen bingo halls that are also permitted to offer slot machines.
West Virginia is set to become the third U.S. state to authorize fixed-odds betting on horse races after Senate Bill 576 was approved by the state legislature.
The state’s House of Delegates voted 55-43 to pass the bill on Friday (April 11), some three weeks after the measure was first approved in the Senate. Senators voted again on Saturday to concur with amendments made to the bill in the lower house.
SB 576, which still must be signed into law by Republican Governor Patrick Morrisey, specifically authorizes licensed sports-betting operators to offer fixed-odds wagers on both horse and dog races alongside football, baseball and other sports.
Tax revenue derived from betting on horse and dog races via sportsbooks will be redistributed to the state’s four licensed racetracks and used to supplement race purses or pay for capital improvements.
Fixed-odds wagering on horse races is also authorized through regulations in New Jersey and Colorado.
The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) will form an “alliance” with other industry stakeholders, including banks and payment providers, to tackle illegal gambling.
KSA chair Michel Groothuizen welcomed calls from lawmakers and the secretary of state to expand powers to tackle illegal gambling in a blog post published on Thursday (April 10).
“We are trying to push illegal parties further and further into a corner, with existing and ever-new tools in our toolbox and to do more and more to make safe gaming a reality for everyone in the Netherlands,” Groothuizen said.
However, he added, “before the introduction of new legislation has taken effect, we will have to wait at least two years.”
In the meantime, the KSA has been working on a plan to tackle illegal gambling.
“The fact that we also receive help (and brainpower!) from legal providers and their affiliated partners will help us to fight the illegal market even more effectively,” Groothuizen said.
As illegal gambling operators are often located outside the Netherlands, the KSA has strengthened cooperation with other gambling regulatory bodies.
Just last week, the KSA issued a €1.2m ($1.4m) fine to Kahnawake-licensed Techno Offshore Limited for offering illegal gambling, and announced that it has “intensified” supervision of illegal gambling apps, having removed 20 from app stores since the start of 2025.
The gambling regulator is also receiving more reports on illegal gambling from the industry.
“Report Fake Gaming" (Meld Vals Spel), established by two trade groups, the Licensed Dutch Online Gambling Providers (VNLOK) and the Dutch Online Gambling Association (NOGA), recently reported dozens of ads for illegal gambling on online platforms, with some ads featuring bank logos without permission.
The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) gambling regulator has granted “gaming-related vendor” licences to gaming technology titan Novomatic and Kentucky-based lottery developer and aggregator EQL Games.
The website of the federal General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) has confirmed the licences, which Novomatic and EQL Games welcomed in separate statements on Thursday (April 10).
“Receiving this licence as one of the first gaming technology groups worldwide is a significant milestone for Novomatic,” said Stefan Krenn, a member of Novomatic AG Group’s executive board.
Novomatic said the licence enables it to “expand its presence with a comprehensive portfolio of state-of-the-art land-based gaming solutions” in the UAE.
EQL Games said its licence will allow it to “offer a suite of high-end gaming products in the UAE on any regulated gaming platform with a focus on lottery”.
“We are honoured to be recognised by the UAE’s regulatory authorities and look forward to supporting their vision for a well-regulated digital lottery experience,” EQL Games CEO and founder Brad Cummings said.
Novomatic and EQL Games are the fifth and sixth companies to receive gaming-related vendor licences after Aristocrat Technologies Europe, Smartplay International, PayBy Technology Projects and Xpoint Technology.
Brazil suspends the licences of four operators, West Virginia lawmakers approve a bill to integrate fixed-odds betting on horse races with the state's sports wagering market, the Netherlands forms an alliance with operators to attack the black market, and the United Arab Emirates' regulator licenses Novomatic and EQL Games.
