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Mexico’s Ministry of Finance and Public Credit has shut down 13 casinos after a multi-month investigation into organized crime and money laundering.
Working with the Security Cabinet, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit has identified 13 casinos as part of an investigation into organized crime and money laundering. It uncovered signs relating to cash operations, international transfers, and the use of unsupervised digital platforms that labelled the casinos “high financial risk”.

La Secretaría de Hacienda refuerza acciones institucionales para impedir el lavado de dinero a través del uso de casinos por presuntos grupos de la delincuencia organizada.https://t.co/zH9tCLLe2U#ComunicadoHacienda pic.twitter.com/a29WCtkByD
— Hacienda (@Hacienda_Mexico) November 12, 2025

The findings of the investigation have led to Mexican authorities blocking the casinos to protect users and remove any risk of them being used by organized crime groups.
Multimillion-dollar organized crime transactions spotted
In addition, signs of international money laundering were detected at gaming establishments across various regions, including Jalisco, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Sonora, Baja California, State of Mexico, Chiapas, and Mexico City. Some of those casinos are alleged to have carried out multimillion-dollar cash transactions, with transfers going to the US, Romania, Albania, Malta, and Panama.
Further suspicion was raised when it was found that apparent users of digital platforms were not in line with the amount of money being transferred. For example, housewives, students, retirees, and the unemployed were seemingly transferring large sums of money to the real recipient in exchange for a percentage fee, in an attempt to make the income appear as though it had come from casino games.
The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit now plans to file the complaints with the Attorney General, as well as notify the tax authorities.
“With this, the Ministry of Finance reaffirms the commitment of the Government of Mexico to strengthen inter-institutional coordination, prevent criminal infiltration in vulnerable sectors, and consolidate joint actions with security and law enforcement authorities to prevent casinos and betting platforms from being used by alleged organized crime groups, as well as to protect users and the population,” reads the official statement from the Ministry.
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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The Gambling Commission has published market impact data on UK gambling behavior and operator data for the first three quarters of 2025.
The UKGC has shared an update to the industry’s data and user behavior for 2025 so far, up to September of this year and covering online and in-person gambling throughout betting premises on UK high streets. The report tracks various industry trends, while also showing that the UK gambling market has experienced growth overall, rising by 8% when compared to the same period the previous year and reaching £1.42 billion ($1.87 billion).
Zooming in on specific user behavior, the total number of bets and spins increased by 3% year-on-year, reaching 26.1 billion. That’s despite the fact that the average monthly active accounts decreased by 7%, falling to 12 million overall during the same timeframe.
More people are spending more time on slots as well, with a 15% increase in slots sessions lasting more than an hour. That means that sessions of over an hour account for 4.6% of all sessions
Real event betting saw an overall decrease in the UK, however, with the number of bets falling by 3% and the average monthly active accounts decreasing by 14%.
Reading between the lines of the Gambling Commission report
Looking beyond the facts and the figures, the general trend appears to be fewer gamblers, but those that remain are spending more time playing, whether on real event betting or slots and spin games.
That lower number of more active gamblers has actually resulted in more spending, with the online gross gambling yield increasing 8% overall, despite a 7% decrease in active accounts. That highlights the potential for continued increase in spending per player.
However, the drop in players could be concerning for industry leaders already raising concerns about an increasing gambling tax pushing more bettors to unlicensed providers. If the tax goes through, this could shrink the gambling customer base even further.
Featured image: Unsplash
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Flutter Entertainment has shared its Q3 earnings report, seeing revenue and player numbers rise while cash flow falls, leading to a net loss.
In its Q3 financial report, Flutter reported some highs and lows, with group revenues up 17% year-on-year, reaching a steady $3.79 billion. That’s in no small part due to steady customer growth, with the average monthly players rising by 9% to reach more than 14 million.

We’re pleased to share our Q3 2025 Earnings, which show another solid quarter of growth across the Group and include the exciting announcement of our expansion into prediction markets through @FanDuel Predicts.
Quarterly highlights include:
14.1M Average Monthly Players, +9%… pic.twitter.com/Vx7G9KevaQ
— Flutter Entertainment (@FlutterEnt) November 12, 2025

Looking at the US specifically, iGaming revenue is performing remarkably well, with a 44% year-on-year increase. It’s perhaps no surprise that Flutter-owned FanDuel will seek to establish a foothold in prediction markets with FanDuel Predicts.
However, despite international revenue also rising by 21%, Flutter reported a group net loss of $789 million. The company puts this down to a non-cash impairment charge of $556 million in India and a one-off payment related to US market access terms of $205 million. That also saw cash flow take a hit, falling by a painful 78%.
Obstacles to Flutter in 2025
Losses were also felt due to a sporting season in favor of bettors throughout Q3 and even into Q4, impacting the gambling giant’s profit margins. It’s hard to ignore the impact of regulatory changes on the company and the industry as a whole, however, which could once again be feeding into the desire to expand into the legal gray area of prediction markets.
For more insights on the Q3 earnings, Flutter CEO Peter Jackson and CFO Rob Coldrake will be taking part in a fireside chat hosted by Morgan Stanley on November 19 at 2pm ET. You can sign up to watch along here.
“Flutter delivered a solid third quarter, with continued momentum in both our US and International businesses,” said Jackson in a statement. “We are the clear number one operator in the US, and we will continue to build on that position to drive future profitability.”
Featured image: Flutter Entertainment
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Bragg Gaming Group posted a mixed set of results for Q3 2025, with revenue climbing to €26.8 million ($31.1 million) but taking a noticeable hit in the Netherlands where tighter regulations and higher taxes dragged down performance.
Netherlands regulations reduce Q3 growth for Bragg
The Canadian B2B iGaming company said: “Revenue increase of 20% (excluding The Netherlands)” while noting that “The Netherlands revenue decreased by 22% year over year due to that market’s overall contraction caused by increased regulation and higher taxes.”

Bragg Gaming Group Reports Strong Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Reiterates Full-Year Revenue Outlook.
Join the #earnings call at 8.30am ET today.
Read more: https://t.co/PicbnAuQb9$BRAG
— Bragg Gaming (@Bragg_Gaming) November 13, 2025

When taking the Netherlands out of the picture, Bragg’s revenue was up 20%. But once the Netherlands is factored in, overall growth shrinks to just 2% year over year.
CEO Matevž Mazij commented: “Our revenue growth was driven by exceptional performance in key strategic markets, with the United States and Brazil up 86% and 80%, respectively, highlighting our increasing scale in these high-potential regions.
“Excluding the Netherlands, where temporary regulatory impacts continue to normalize, Bragg achieved approximately 20% growth across the rest of its markets.
“As we look ahead to the remainder of 2025 and into 2026, we remain confident in our ability to deliver long-term value for our shareholders. We look forward to updating investors as we progress,” Mazij added.
Regional divergences delivers growth
Other regions really stood out for Bragg. Revenue in Brazil surged 80% and the US was up 86%, helped by the company leaning further into its higher margin proprietary content. Adjusted EBITDA also moved in the right direction, rising to €4.45 million ($5.17 million) from €4.08 million ($4.74 million) a year earlier.
Bragg also stuck with its full year 2025 outlook, saying it still expects revenue to land between €106 million ($123 million) and €108.5 million ($126 million), with adjusted EBITDA projected to come in between €16.5 million ($19.2 million) and €18.5 million ($21.5 million).
Bragg recently shared that in September it lined up a new financing deal with the Bank of Montreal worth up to $6 million. The company said it used the fresh funding to clear earlier debts and set the stage for a new growth strategy. It also kept building out its product lineup, rolling out its games and RGS technology with Fanatics Casino in New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and adding two new titles for Hard Rock Bet Casino.
Bragg also addressed the cyberattack it experienced in August, noting “that there is no indication that any personal information was affected, the incident did not have any impact on its ability to continue its operations, nor has it been restricted from accessing any data that was subject to the internal computer breach.”
Featured image: Bragg Gaming Group
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A report by PwC for the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) shows that increased UK gambling tax and regulation would both reduce tax revenue and encourage illegal offshore betting.
Hot on the heels of the BGC CEO’s warning that increased gambling taxes in the UK could see an uptick in black market operations, a report from PwC commissioned for the BGC has findings that echo his concerns. Specifically, the report highlighted that more restrictive regulatory environments tend to lead to lower spends with licensed operators.
Looking at cases in Sweden, Denmark, and the UK, compared to other countries across Europe, the report claims that increasing taxes led to lower revenue for licensed operators and pushed bettors to offshore, unlicensed providers. Rather than reducing gambling activity, increased taxation appears to only push it underground.
Looking at the UK in particular, the PwC report states: “The size and growth of the unregulated market [in the UK] has increased in recent years alongside the implementation of tighter regulations.”
Where before the UK’s channelization rate (or the spend with licensed operators) was either growing or holding steady in the last few years, it has dropped two percentage points since the tightening of regulatory environments.
What does this mean for the UK tax increase on gambling?
This latest report adds more fuel to the fire of opposition to a proposed UK gambling tax increase, with industry leaders coming out in droves to argue against Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ proposed plans. Between reducing industry revenue and threatening thousands of jobs, the potential move is being fiercely opposed by those working in the sector.
The Chancellor is expected to raise the General Betting Duty from 15% to 30% in her Autumn Budget later this month, a dramatic increase that would have varied knock-on effects throughout the British gambling space.
Featured image: Shutterstock, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
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