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They took the dispute to international arbitration, claiming Laos had violated investment treaties protecting their businesses.
The two sides reached a settlement in 2014, but that agreement also fell apart, and the casino companies renewed their claims.
Ultimately, the gamble backfired.
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The KVA’s statement mirrors a broader European regulatory trend where authorities are increasingly scrutinising how major internet platforms facilitate traffic to unlicensed gambling services.
In Sweden, Spelinspektionen recently flagged affiliates and social media as key channels for black market advertising and how affiliate networks redirect search traffic towards unlicensed operators.
Regulators have so far focused mainly on monitoring paid advertising. In Germany, the GGL credited an updated Google ad policy with reducing black market visibility. Yet, it acknowledged that illegal operators could still achieve visibility in organic search through SEO manipulation.
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But Entain found 11 of the current 20 Premier League clubs still hold sponsorship or advertising arrangements with operators that don’t hold a UK licence, up from the government’s estimate of eight.
The deals include sleeve sponsorships, stadium branding and training kits.
Just last week, Sunderland announced the crypto casino and sports betting platform Shuffle as its new official sleeve partner, in what was described as a “multi-year partnership”.