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Compliance Updates

Gambling.com Group Limited Welcomes Legalization of Online Sports Betting in North Carolina

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Gambling.com Group Limited (Nasdaq: GAMB), a leading provider of player acquisition services for the regulated global online gambling industry, today noted the signing of House Bill (HB) 347 to allow legal, regulated online sports betting across North Carolina – becoming the 28th state to do so. HB 347 requires the state lottery to publish online sports betting regulations by January 8, 2024, and to authorize sports betting operators to start accepting wagers within one year from today.

The legalization of online sports betting in North Carolina is a highlight for Gambling.com Group Limited’s co-founders and Charlotte natives, Charles Gillespie and Kevin McCrystle, who during their time at UNC Chapel Hill started the business that would become Gambling.com Group Limited in 2006. With no regulated online gambling in the United States at the time, Gillespie and McCrystle left North Carolina to build a fully-licensed performance marketing business focused on online gambling with the regulated United Kingdom and Ireland markets as the group’s initial core.

In 2018, the Gambling.com Group Limited turned its focus back to the United States after the Supreme Court invalidated the federal prohibition on sports betting. In the years since, Gambling.com Group’s business in North America has grown from under $2 million in revenue in 2019 to nearly $36 million for the 2022 full-year period.

Today, the Gambling.com Group Limited has its primary United States office in Charlotte, which the Charlotte Business Journal described as one of the ‘Best Places to Work’ in 2022. In his role of Chief Operating Officer, McCrystle is now once again based in Charlotte and leads the local North Carolina team in addition to overseeing the group’s global operations, which employ over 400 full-time employees and contractors.

“Kevin and I started our journey to build the pre-eminent online gambling affiliate operator in 2006 from an idea that formed in a dorm room in Chapel Hill and which quickly led us abroad to find regulated markets where we could apply our expertise and passion,” the Chief Executive Officer for Gambling.com Group Limited, Charles Gillespie, said. “Our journey to building one of the world’s leading online gambling performance marketing companies has now come full circle with the legalization of online sports betting in North Carolina. I applaud and congratulate the state’s General Assembly leaders and Governor Cooper for making regulated online sports betting a reality. The next generation of North Carolina entrepreneurs will be able to dive straight into opportunities in this exciting industry.”

Gambling.com Group Limited stands ready to apply its proven formula in North Carolina to help residents and visitors identify, assess and access the online sportsbooks that will be regulated by the North Carolina Lottery. The group helps licensed online gambling operators acquire players through its portfolio of websites including Gambling.com, Bookies.com, RotoWire.com and the soon-to-launch Casinos.com as well as state-specific websites like BetCarolina.com, which the group launched in March of 2022 to help residents find up-to-date information on North Carolina-specific sports betting topics such as legislative updates, breaking news about the push for regulation and betting coverage of local teams as well as through the Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News & Observer and the Durham Herald-Sun via the group’s media partnership with The McClatchy Company.

“After traveling all around the world helping to expand regulated betting markets, it is amazing to finally be home in North Carolina and have access to legal online sports betting,” McCrystle said. “Our talented team in North Carolina and across the globe are well positioned to help operators and customers in the ‘Tarheel State’ succeed as the legal North American sports betting industry continues to grow and succeed.”

Performance marketing companies, or affiliates, such as Gambling.com Group Limited, are a critical tool for regulators to channel customers toward their new legal sports betting options and away from offshore sportsbooks, which are subject to minimal oversight, are not taxed and provide risks to players’ deposits and winnings. As an online resource for sports betting, affiliates help millions of customers make informed decisions on where to place their wagers and therefore must be held to stringent standards of responsibility and safety. Gambling.com Group Limited works hand-in-hand with regulated sports betting operators and is an integral part of the ecosystem in establishing and maintaining the sustainability of the legal market, which will begin to provide consumer protection for North Carolina sports bettors.

Gambling.com Group Limited believes that North Carolina will not only grow jobs in the state but will keep revenue that is currently flowing to neighboring states such as Virginia and Tennessee where sports betting has been regulated for years, not to mention offshore websites.

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North Carolina’s population of nearly eleven million adults has the potential to become one of the largest sports betting markets in the United States. Legislators forecast more than $100 million in tax revenue a year within five years of sports betting launching in the state. Gambling.com Group Limited enables sportsbook operators to acquire customers without broadcasting highly-visible advertising on television, which impacts everyone, including young people. Because affiliates predominantly provide resources to motivated consumers actively seeking out information, companies like Gambling.com Group Limited are an ideal alternative to traditional advertising in the industry.

According to a recent survey conducted by BetCarolina.com, nearly 16% of North Carolina adults already bet on sports and 31% said they are either ‘very likely’ or ‘likely’ to bet when the state launches sports betting statewide. A quarter of those surveyed said they would bet at least monthly and nearly half said they would bet at least once a year.

Compliance Updates

PHAI Files Lawsuit in Pennsylvania Over Caesars’ Dangerous Online Casino Promotion and “Pay Through Bonuses”

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The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI), a nonprofit advocacy organization that continues to lead the movement to develop a comprehensive public health response to the threat posed by the gambling industry, announced a new lawsuit filed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, seeking to expose and stop an alleged dangerous, misleading, and illegal “deposit match” promotion by Caesars Online Casino and its brick-and-mortar partner Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino.

In this promotion, Caesars and its partners are luring new customers with a false and misleading promise of a “$2500 deposit match,” according to the lawsuit. Only in the small-print terms and conditions is it disclosed that a new customer playing Blackjack is required to gamble and risk $375,000 in just the first seven days after opening an account. In other words, no money or winnings can be withdrawn unless a total of $375,000 is gambled and risked. All money lost during the first 7-day period is kept by Caesars and Harrah’s Casino.

The lawsuit alleged that Caesars and its partners have effectively rewritten the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by mandating that new customers gamble up to $375,000 before being paid any of their winnings. The public is not told that the promotion is designed to snare new customers in a “wild chase of action,” where the bonus is unattainable and therefore impossible to win.

Under the leadership of Executive Director Mark Gottlieb, PHAI continues to spearhead the burgeoning movement to bring comprehensive public health change to the threat posed by the gambling industry and its partners across the US.

Gottlieb said: “We know the gambling industry, with the assistance of the American Gaming Association (AGA) and the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS), is aggressively attempting to push the legalization of online casino gambling across the United States. Thus far, the seven states with online casino gambling seem ill-prepared or unwilling to regulate the wild tactics of the industry. This promotion, engineered by Caesars, is among the most egregious we have seen to date.”

Dr. Harry Levant, Director of Gambling Policy at PHAI, warned that Caesars and others in the gambling industry are acting with impunity, disregarding existing laws, and placing the public directly at risk.

According to Dr. Levant: “It is unconscionable for a gambling company to knowingly require people to gamble excessively and put their mental health at risk as a condition to cash out their winnings. More importantly, nothing in Pennsylvania’s gambling rules or laws permits a casino to refuse payment unless and until customers begin gambling to excess. This is dangerous to Caesar’s customers, immoral, and just plain wrong.”

PHAI Director of Litigation Andrew Rainer, Esq., said: “PHAI continues to utilize the courts to protect clients and the public from unreasonable risks of harm caused by the negligent, careless, and reckless conduct of the gambling industry.”

PHAI Founder and President. Dr. Richard Daynard said: “The mission of the Public Health Advocacy Institute is to protect public health and advance social justice. The days of the gambling industry disregarding public health and safety are coming to an end. When Caesars doesn’t play fair, it puts players’ health at risk.”

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The case is Brubaker vs Chester Downs and Marina LLC et al. (Ct of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, First Judicial District, Case ID 250602325).

In December 2023, PHAI and its Center for Public Health Litigation filed a class action suit against DraftKings in Massachusetts that garnered nationwide headlines. In August 2024, a judge in Massachusetts denied DraftKings’ motion to dismiss, allowing the litigation to move forward.

In October 2024, PHAI filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, asking the court to compel the MGC to adhere to state law and turn over data that casinos compile to track player behavior. Under Section 97 of the Expanded Gaming Act, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is required to collect behavioral data from casino operators and share anonymized customer data with researchers. This data is essential for analyzing what casino practices are causing harm and who is being harmed. The Gaming Commission has been subject to the legal requirement to collect this data since its formation in 2011. Now, more than a decade later, the Commission has yet to collect a single piece of data from any licensee or make any data available to researchers.

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Compliance Updates

The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) Selects New Board Chair

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The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) has announced Chief Tammy Cook-Searson, of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, as its new Board Chair for SIGA’s Board of Directors.

SIGA is a non-profit First Nation gaming operator for seven land-based casinos and the online gaming platform PlayNow.com in Saskatchewan.

Chief Cook-Searson first joined SIGA’s Board of Directors in 2018 and has been a regular SIGA Board member as well as a member of SIGA’s Audit & Finance Committee.

She is serving in her 20th year as Chief of Lac La Ronge Indian Band and has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree and a graduate diploma in management from Athabasca University. She also holds honorary degrees from the University of Regina, the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT) and Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

Chief Cook-Searson replaces outgoing Board Chair former Chief of Muskowekwan First Nation Reginald Bellerose, who has held the Board Chair position since February 4, 2015.

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Compliance Updates

MGCB Showcases National Leadership on Illegal Gaming Enforcement at 2025 NAGRA Conference

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Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) Criminal Investigations Section Manager John Lessnau recently represented the agency at the 2025 North American Gaming Regulators Association (NAGRA) Annual Training and Education Conference, held June 2-5 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Lessnau presented a featured session titled “Case Study: Tackling the Illegal/Offshore Gaming Market” and facilitated a discussion on how Michigan is setting the standard nationwide in combatting illegal and unregulated gaming operations. His presentation outlined Michigan’s strategic enforcement model and collaborative approach to removing illegal gambling from the state and deterring bad actors from targeting Michigan consumers.

“Michigan is at the forefront of the national conversation on illegal gambling, and we were proud to share how our efforts are making a real impact. We’re leveraging every tool available—from anonymous tip lines and interagency partnerships to direct enforcement and public awareness—to crack down on illegal gaming operations that threaten consumer protection and undermine legal businesses,” MGCB Criminal Investigations Section Manager John Lessnau said.

To date, the MGCB has issued nearly 100 cease-and-desist letters to unauthorized gambling operators—including high-profile offshore websites—and continues to pursue new cases with more enforcement actions expected in the months ahead. These efforts underscore the agency’s commitment to upholding integrity in Michigan’s legal, regulated gaming market.

The MGCB’s aggressive stance on illegal and offshore gambling has drawn national recognition and strengthened its partnerships with regulatory peers across the US.

As part of the NAGRA conference, MGCB Executive Director Henry Williams was honored with the 2025 Excellence in Gaming – Individual Award, recognizing his leadership in expanding responsible gaming outreach and fortifying criminal enforcement efforts. The award reflects the continued success of the MGCB under Williams’ direction and the agency’s role as a model for effective, transparent regulation.

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