News In Brief: August 4-August 8, 2025

Trade groups in the Netherlands say the government's plans to increase the gambling tax rate will send players to the black market and reduce tax revenues.

NOGA, VAN Kansspelen, and VNLOK issued a joint statement against the government's plan to increase the gambling tax to 34.2 percent in 2025 and possibly even 37.8 percent in 2026.

The trade groups say the taxes phased implementation reflects the risks to policy objectives and the treasury, “but does not allay concerns about the continued existence of regulated gambling services.”

VNLOK chairman Björn Fuchs, similarly, said in a separate statement on Monday (August 4) that the increase in gambling tax, combined with strict regulations for licensed providers, makes legal gambling less attractive.

“Players are switching to illegal casinos with higher bonuses and better payouts. Meanwhile, half of online gambling money is gambled illegally, without supervision or protection,” he said.

The trade group’s data shows that nearly €30m less tax revenue from online gambling was collected in the first half of 2025 than in the same period in 2024.

Dutch online gambling revenue grew by 6.2 percent to €1.47bn in 2024, which already marked a notable slowdown in growth over previous years, but the market suffered a contraction in the final months of the year, which coincided with the introduction of new affordability-linked deposit limits that came into effect on October 1.

Fuchs' three key demands are freezing the gambling tax rate at 34.2 percent and investigating its effects, effectively addressing illegal gambling, and implementing policies “that do not drive players away to illegal gambling”.

Spain’s Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda said it is pushing for an amendment to the Law on Customer Service to ban bonuses for online gambling, which were reinstated in April 2024 following a Supreme Court ruling.

Details on the amendment being “promoted” by the Ministry and a possible timeline for its introduction are not currently available.

It follows the Ministry’s release of its latest Gaming Activity Report, prepared by the  Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ) and validated by the Gaming Policy Council, which estimates that more than €8bn was lost by players in 2024, aided by a 21.63 percent increase in online players.

The surge in online gambling is attributed by the ministry to the reintroduction of bonuses.

The report revealed that in 2024, gambling marketing expenditure totaled €526m, with €261m spent on promotions and €203m spent on advertising.

A Chinese takeover of Brisbane’s Queen’s Wharf hotel and gaming precinct has collapsed and imperilled casino operator The Star Entertainment Group anew after Star’s consortium partners terminated their heads of agreement.

Star’s partners, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium International, declined to extend negotiations last week, terminating the deal that would have seen them take full control of the troubled facility up from a quarter share each.

The collapse of the deal means that Star and its partners will revert to previous arrangements, including Star’s one-third equity interest in the nearby Star Gold Coast casino and hotel instead of full control of the property, according to a filing to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Friday (August 1).

But it also means that Star must repay its partners a net A$40m ($26m) in proceeds and equity contributions at a time of sinking revenue.

Also looming are some A$200m in equity contributions to the Queen’s Wharf consortium and a December deadline for a challenging refinancing of its debt facility, all pressure points for a proposed Bally’s takeover of Star.

Star shares on the ASX slid to a record low of A$0.091 following Friday’s announcement.

The prospect of bankruptcy continues to shadow the company, with transactions regulator AUSTRAC set to issue a potential fine to Star in the hundreds of millions of dollars, while the New South Wales state gambling regulator has warned it will not rubber stamp any Bally’s takeover application.

A federal judge in Maryland on Friday (August 1) ruled against Kalshi on whether state gaming regulators can require the prediction-market operator to be licensed to offer sports-event contracts, a decision that differs from rulings by federal judges in Nevada and New Jersey.

Kalshi immediately appealed U.S. District Court Judge Adam B. Abelson’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The company has sought a preliminary injunction against the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency that claimed enforcement authority over sports-event markets.

Abelson noted in his ruling that it should not be a problem for Kalshi to obtain a sports-betting license in Maryland. The ruling opens the door for Maryland regulators to potentially enforce their cease-and-desist letter sent to Kalshi earlier this year.

Kalshi maintains that it is regulated at the federal level by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and that the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) preempts states from exercising authority over sports betting when that betting is offered through a so-called events contract subject to federal authorization.

Prediction markets such as Kalshi are now available in all 50 states and enable so-called traders to place “yes” or “no” trades on subjects such as which Major League Baseball team will win their game on a given day or who will win the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup championship.