News In Brief: August 4-August 8, 2025

Light & Wonder will delist from the Nasdaq exchange by the end of November, a decision that comes off the back of an extended consultation process, said CEO Matt Wilson.

Following the Nasdaq delisting, Light & Wonder shares will be traded solely on the ASX in Australia. 

The company also confirmed their stock-buyback proposal has been increased to $1.5bn, with $950m remaining, and much going toward the Nasdaq withdrawal.
 
Light & Wonder will remain headquartered in Las Vegas continuing to report quarterly. Wilson said he believes the transition to a sole ASX listing “will deliver tremendous shareholder value going forward.”

In a research report, Barry Jonas, an analyst with Truist Securities, wrote that Light & Wonder management believes the transition will help consolidate liquidity into a market that has solid understanding of the gaming sector. 

“Following the transition, Light & Wonder’s market cap on the ASX will go from AUD4.5bn to AUD12.2bn,” Jonas wrote.

President Daniel Noboa is again proposing a constitutional referendum to re-authorise casinos in Ecuador.

Noboa announced a series of seven proposed ballot measures on Tuesday (August 5), as part of a “popular consultation that asks the people about topics that have been of popular interest and in need of urgent changes for many years”.

The last of the referendum questions would allow Ecuadoreans to decide whether to “allow the operation of gaming rooms and casinos dedicated to games of chance in five-star hotels”.

Gross revenue from casino gaming would be taxed at 25 percent, with taxes dedicated to addressing malnutrition among children.

The proposed ballot measures will now be reviewed by Ecuador’s Constitutional Court before a referendum can be scheduled, potentially in December.

Ecuador banned casinos and slots halls via a national referendum held in 2011. Noboa first proposed a referendum to reconsider the issue last year, before swiftly withdrawing the initiative.

Advancing American Freedom (AAF), a conservative think tank founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, is lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill against making gambling losses 100 percent tax-deductible.

The change in the tax code beginning on January 1, 2026, will allow gamblers to only deduct 90 percent of their losses. Gamblers have been able to deduct 100 percent of their gambling losses since 1934, a standard that was reaffirmed during President Donald Trump’s first term in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The American Gaming Association (AGA), along with bipartisan members of the House and Senate support restoring the full deduction.

“Americans have the freedom to gamble on sports, but why should American taxpayers foot the tax bill for sports gambling?” the memo argues. “Congress should encourage a pro-growth tax code by declining to reinstate full expensing for gambling losses.”

“Gambling losses should not be deductible at all,” the memo states.

John Shelton, AFF’s policy director, wrote that as a result of the new tax law, “many Americans could stop gambling due to the tax consequences.” PunchBowl News was the first to report on the memo that is being circulated to congressional offices.

A bipartisan 50-state coalition of attorneys general is urging the U.S. Department of Justice to assist them in their efforts to tackle the rampant spread of illegal offshore gambling operations across the country.

“Our states have heard reports concerning growth in the illicit offshore gambling markets that could be harming our citizens,” according to the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG).

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, NAAG warned that offshore websites undermine the rule of law and urged the DOJ’s cooperation in going after these sites for any potential criminal and civil violations.

Specifically, the coalition asserts that illegal gambling operations expose users to fraudulent schemes and encourage problem gambling without any oversight or accountability; undercut state-regulated markets; and have been linked to money laundering, human trafficking, and other illegal conduct.

The coalition estimates illegal online gambling costs states more than $4bn in lost tax revenue.

Particularly, the coalition urges the DOJ to pursue injunctive relief under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) to block access to the illegal websites and payment processing, as well as seize assets, including servers, websites, domains, and proceeds, used by offshore operators.

The coalition also asked the DOJ to work with states, financial institutions, and payment processors to block transactions associated with these offshore sites.

A slow-moving bill to establish a licensing system for online sports betting and casino games has been approved unanimously by the Chilean Senate’s finance committee.

The bill, first introduced by the Chilean government in 2022, was approved by the lower house of Congress in December 2023 but then gathered dust before the Senate committee for nearly 15 months until the legislation was subject to a series of public hearings in July.

Approval by the finance committee means the measure will now be considered on the floor of the Senate, which would initially decide whether or not to approve the measure in general before then debating potential amendments to the legislation as passed by the Chamber of Deputies.

During its series of recent meetings, the finance committee received testimony from Chilean casino operators, the country’s two public lotteries and representatives of online gambling operators, including Betsson, Betway, Betano and BetWarrior.

International operators currently active in Chile’s unregulated market are advocating for a proposed cooling-off period to be removed from the bill so that they could immediately apply for licences once available.

Another contentious issue is tax, with the bill currently proposing a 20 percent headline tax rate, additional levies for sports and responsible gaming, plus value-added tax (VAT) as well.

In a statement following the committee’s vote, Ministry of Finance deputy secretary Heidi Berner said the government had concluded that it was not possible to create an exception from VAT for online gambling “given that we apply VAT to all digital services.”

Representative Dina Titus, a Democrat from Nevada, has called for an investigation into Brian Quintenz, President Donald Trump’s nominee for chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

In a letter to acting chairwoman Caroline Pahm, Titus requested an inquiry into whether Quintenz has violated CFTC policies, any applicable federal law, or his own ethical pledge prior to the  Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry voting on his nomination.

The committee was scheduled to vote on Quintenz’s nomination last week, but removed his name from the meeting scheduled at the request of the White House.

Quintenz is a former CFTC commissioner and a board member and shareholder of Kalshi. Last week, it was reported that Quintenz and members of his team sent ethically questionable emails to the CFTC regarding the federal agency.

Quintenz noted the emails were sent as part of his preparation to take over the organization. But Titus, who chairs the Congressional Gaming Caucus, has called on the CFTC to release all relevant communications from or about Quintenz related to prediction markets and event contracts.

Titus wrote that Quintenz may be the only commissioner of the CFTC for some time.

“It seems impractical to believe that he will not make any decisions involving Kalshi for one year, considering the vast amount of regulatory and legal action concerning prediction markets,” Titus wrote. “Furthermore, regulatory inaction is of material benefit to Kalshi.”

The Dutch gambling regulator expects gambling tax revenue in 2025 to generate €40m ($46.1m) less than in 2024, due to new player protection rules.

The figure from the Netherlands Gambling Authority’s (KSA) impact assessment on the increase in gambling tax, which came into effect on January 1, 2025, is causing concern.

Michel Groothuizen, chairman of the KSA, acknowledges that player protection measures have put financial pressure on gambling providers, but believes this impact was expected.

Groothuizen said: “A financially driven measure like a gambling tax is at odds with the policy objective of offering players more protection. If we want to offer players a protected gaming environment in the future, this requires serious, responsible providers. A financially sound, legal market is essential for this.”

The regulator does not agree with the view of local trade groups, NOGA, VAN Kansspelen, and VNLOK, as it states the tax change has not yet impacted channelling rates.

However, it predicts players will start to leave the licensed market if gambling providers take corrective measures to protect their revenue, such as limiting offerings or reducing their payout percentages.

The illegal online market is estimated to be €1.2bn in 2025, meaning the black market has grown since the last measurement in April 2025.

But as it has been growing for several years, the regulator feels it is not possible to conclude that the tax has already had an impact on channelling.

The gambling regulator is now monitoring the channelling rate and the declining number of land-based gambling venues, as nine closed in the first quarter of 2025 compared to just six closures in the five years prior.

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.