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A daily podcast delving into the biggest stories of the day throughout the sports betting and igaming sector.
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iGaming Daily is wrapping up its iSE 2026 coverage by taking a look at some of the biggest headlines and talking points from the show floor. Today we've heard from Tim Miller, Executive Director of the UK Gambling Commission, and Shea Segev, CEO of Dazon. So we'll take a look at what they told attendees and what it says about the state of play for iGaming in 2026. Welcome back to iGaming Daily, supported by Optimouth, the creator of positionless marketing, and the number one. player engagement solution for sports betting and iGaming operators. I'm Charlie Horner and today I'm joined by Ted Menmure, editor at large at SBC and editor of SBC News, Ted Omklay. Ted, how's things? Pretty good, mate. Thank you, Charlie. Yeah, it's been a busy couple of days, but it's been good to be back here. There's always lots going on, lots of people to speak to. There's been some good conference stuff to check out as well. Yeah, it's been great to see some of our London colleagues in person as well. It's not too often we get the chance to do that, like the one and only Ted Menbeer, for example. Speaking of which, Ted, welcome back to the show. Happy birthday. Happy birthday, Ted. Thank you. you. The sun's out. And to our audiences, I'm enjoying my second Fanta Orange. Great drink. Other brands are available. All right, we're on day three and to paint a picture that we're coming towards the end of the show now and the energy is still high, spirit is still high. But we've learned a lot, we've had a lot of conversations between us this week. I think let's just open the show by just having some general reflections on the conference this week. What have you made from the... time here and what have you learned at TedLC? That's a very good question. I need to start casting my mind back. Like I said, there's some good, you know, uh some interesting things said on the conference side of stuff and then a lot of good conversations we had with different people from across the industry. I've spoken to some people we know at companies like Flutter and Alwin and so on about the things those companies are up to and the kind of developments they're monitoring. You know, the Obviously when you speak to people involved in the British market, a lot of the conversations are around the tax changes and the regulatory scenario. We've also spoken to people talking about Ireland and the future of the regulations there. was speaking to the managing director of a quite big Spanish operator earlier as well about some of the marketing restrictions in that country. I'd say that country, in the country we're currently sat in, I should say. em the challenges of competing in that scenario. I mean, we've spoken to a lot of the affiliates as well. Ted was mentioning that in yesterday's episode about some of the conversations he's had on the affiliate floor. Yeah, as always, a lot to take away. Ted, and what have you learnt this week? Look, I think this is kind of a point of inflection post all the regulatory judgments that there were last year across a lot of European territories. And I think it's going to be a testing 2026. I think some of the figures that are going to come in from kind Q1 onwards are really, they're not going to be pretty. I think there are a number of companies that have gone straight into re-evaluating their value chains, their operations. But, you know, we talk about this, but it just appears just being ever-present now. Just gambling and the big PLCs. have to be in constant evolution and it's really now down to the strongest and smartest will survive. Just from my experience this week, going around the show floor and I think behind all of the bright lights, the exciting products that are on show, I think there is uh a realism setting in that we are at an inflection point. And it's not just the operators who are taking that into account, it is the suppliers as well. And I think they are really focused on long-term partnerships, making sure that they're working very closely with operators because they're aware that operator margins are going to be tightened across several markets and they're really working on bringing new solutions to the market to help. keep those margins as strong as they can be through what is going to be a tough time. Yeah, I mean, that's one thing I noticed. A lot of the conversations I've had have gone straight into the numbers, straight into, know, leaders actually be quite open about it saying like, we don't know in what direction to go at the moment, or where do we squeeze margin from? Is it marketing? Is it operations? Is it services? What you know is I think this is quite a transformative ice because I think a lot of these contracts are going to be re-evaluated and especially kind of at the B2B level. There seems to be a sense that everyone's on their toes and there is kind of that sensitivity in the backdrop. And operators of course want to ultimately provide players with the best experience so they want to take advantage of the solutions and the products that are on show. to do that at the right financial level. So I think that's going to be something that's heavily looked at over the months and years to come. It's of a tightrope to walk really isn't it because of wanting to find partners and suppliers that can help you provide the best products, the best services or maybe help with marketing and things like that, help with RG requirements. But then if your budget is getting shrunk by heavier taxation and other duties, you're not going to have the money to spend on that as much as previous years. there is going to be a very fine balance to be had over 2026 and into the years beyond, I think. Talking to the, you know, the bigger software providers, and I actually did see that in terms of like the sports books, because there is a concern there that, look, everyone wants to deliver products. everyone wants to be efficient, but it is a two-way street between the operator and the supplier and how they integrate. And with sensitivities on cost controls, there are kind of, I think, points of kind of stagnation of how these partnerships are going to develop out. What are they kind of prioritizing now? Look, it's a big year for sports. Everyone wants to have optimal product come the World Cup, but it's whether they can guarantee the resources to get there. So again, it is. It's very much kind of the aftermath of those judgments, the implication of them and how they come into play. It's everything seems to be colliding. It's an interesting, it is an interesting time to to live in for this industry. And it's even more interesting time to be reporting on it. I mean, as we see these Q1 figures come in in the next few months, it's going to be so interesting to see through those results and see, and see how people and operators are being affected by this. Okay, well, let's park that part of the conversation for now. um because I want to make sure that we come on to some of the speeches that we gave throughout the week. And one particularly of note that we'd like to highlight is Tim Miller, Executive Director at the Gambling Commission. Ted Osey, I think you were there or you've sifted over what was said. so I guess we should clarify that the speech was at the World Regulatory Briefing, which was under Chatham House rules. So we weren't in attendance or live reporting on it. but the commission has now published a speech on its website for everyone to read. We've covered it on SPC News, well our colleague Victor has covered it on SPC News back in Manchester and it's caught a bit of attention from a few other outlets outside of the industry as well I think because of what he said. Now the really interesting element of it is he's talking a lot about social media and specifically about meta and there's a bit that stands out quite a lot where he says The question we're asking of Metta is, and I quote, whose side are you on? Which I think is quite interesting. It's in the context of the UK GCs and the wider British regulated industries battle against the black market. Metta obviously is the owner and operator of Facebook and Instagram. And Miller has been pointing out about how a lot of... black market unregulated unlicensed sports books and casinos whatever word you might want to refer to them as oh promote themselves via these two social media platforms two of the biggest social media platforms going and I think he very clearly wants to see uh Meta take on a bigger role in taking these ads down it doesn't seem like he's been buying some of the stuff they've been telling the Commission about about how they're addressing these black market ads or about how they get alerted to them and things like that. think Miller thinks that the meta should be stepping up what it does. Ted, how would you reflect on that and what does it tell us about the gambling commission's sort of evolution when it comes to enforcement? I think on a direction divided there will be guys saying, yeah, it's about time and that. There had to be something imposed, not only on meta, but on Google, on the big Silicon Valley media companies, their inventory. And their advocacy and their safeguards for general audiences, they are the gatekeepers for any industry in how they engage with customers. uh Again, it comes at a very fraught time between the relationship between the UK GC and UK gambling licenses, but also with the public. We saw that report at the start of the year that the general public are losing faith in the authorities related to gambling, and the gambling commission is included in that. uh I think it's quite a forthright of them to want to challenge or go up against the bigger themes in enforcement. And one of them would be, how do you ensure that the rules also apply to your big media companies and that they are compliant too with the regulations? Because it shouldn't just be on the licenses, it should be on the whole environment. In a way, I'm glad now that uh the gambling commission or it appears is that even politicians themselves and those in authority are kind of starting to talk more about the overall system and the overall kind of environment in which gambling operates. It's not just the case of what's imposed on licenses, it's, you know, their surrounding services and how they go to market. Okay, brilliant. Well, Ted, Ted, we'll take a quick break and we'll come back and we'll talk a little bit more. Welcome back to iGaming Daily. We're round up our reflections after what has been a busy few days at ICE. Another speech that I'd like to highlight was the CEO of Dezone, Shay Segev, uh who's also spoken this week. Ted, OC. What did he have to say? Yeah, so was at this one. Sheg said I've delivered a keynote yesterday morning. It was the opening speech of the day. Dazon obviously being a really big and continually growing player in em global sports, streaming, sports entertainment, and obviously increasingly a big stakeholder in betting as well. The owner of Dazon Bet, as the name would suggest. And that is live in, I believe, the UK, Ireland, Italy. in Spain. eh I may have missed a market off at Germany as well, Germany. And I believe our colleagues on Canadian gaming business have reported that they're interested in uh Canada as well. Obviously that would be, I'd imagine would be a launch in Ontario and then possibly iron up Alberta as and when the market there goes live. I'm just speculating about. yeah, Shays Zagov was talking about the company's ambitions. It's actually been covered by Rachel Kennedy for Inside a Sport already. I'm aiming to get something out on SPC News as so please stay tuned to see that. One of the interesting things he talked about was their overall ambitions as a sports entertainment brand. He was making comparisons to Spotify and how that is used to consume music and they kind of want to be what he called the Spotify of sports and have the idea that everyone has their own app on their phone and uses that to get their sports content whether that's actually watching matches and things like that or getting news and highlights. or potentially having a bet on it as well. But I think the thing that was most interesting about the speech was that it started about 30 minutes or so after the zone announced that it has signed a partnership with Polymarket to start offering predictions on its platform as well. This will be in the US to start with, but I think they have got other countries on their agenda further down the line. We don't know which ones it will be, but obviously you would... probably you would start with the US, that's where this prediction scene has really been exploding. m So yes, now they're offering that one as well. He didn't really comment too much on that, but he did seem very confident that they'll be able to build up a decent standing in that space in partnership with Polymarket, obviously one of the biggest ones in there. So yeah, the timing of it around that was probably the most interesting thing about it really being that I didn't really, I didn't expect this wasn't on my, this wasn't on my 2026 predictions. No, no pun intended for Dazon to get involved. Anyway, go on Ted. Yeah, I I interviewed the CEO of Dazon Bed, the affiliate stand, and I think they've been the noisiest company at our eyes. So they win that award, congrats guys. But my reflection is it appears that it's a big year for them and one of the things that they pointed out is that they're now active in 10 regulated markets. It appears that they're a company that really are kind of striving to get market share quickly. I'm kind of vouching for that. I'd be looking at the zone to actually, you know, maybe acquire. or going on M &A hunt for one or two local licenses there. The other thing is with the VCs and their billionaire owner, I don't think they're just here to participate. I think they do need a significant... a section of their business to come from betting and gaming and to be attached to their kind of OTT and streaming platform. This is a company that is risking a lot and it's definitely one that I think we're going to keep on a close eyes on this year. Yeah, it's a company that has invested a lot into sports and its tech platforms as well and it's trying to... gather that all into one ecosystem and it's a risky move. But if you can do it and you can pull it off, you'll reap the benefits. And it's one of these companies that in gaming, but when it moves, goes not only kind of ripples within the industry, but outside within kind of media ranks. There's, you know, there's a lot of kind of cross impacts there. So that's what think that's what makes them interesting too. And yeah, we've covered their financial reports as well. Their filings of companies house fairly regularly. And one of the things I think I from what I remember when I covered the last one was that they said in that that the sports book revenue has been playing a much bigger, an increasingly bigger role in their financial performance which is improving overall as well. So I think the launch of Dizone, I think that was about four years ago now. Yeah, it seems to be playing a big role for them and like Ted said, I think we should be keeping a close eye on them. I think we should expect some other moves from them. Could be M &A's, could be new market launches. various types of partnerships. mean this predictions thing as well is obviously uh a different area but uh yeah I wouldn't be surprised to see even more coming from the zone over the next couple of years. I'd also like to add to the audiences that you're coming from ice one of the things that we're seeing kind of a lot of sensitivities on the media rights and the streaming and I think that maybe that can kind of play into kind of design strengths of kind of that convergence with the OTT content. and creating like a true, you know, very good kind of uh stream to mobile, stream to bet ah engine or website. And that could be kind of a difference maker for them. But, you know, coming from your likes of like your media rights owners. they are a lot more sensitive in how they're going to plug in these streaming IPs with the bookmakers going forward, especially because now everything is about cost control. So yeah, there is a kind of premium to pay and I think that's an element that's going come into play. Well, there you go. Dozone, noisiest brand of ice and one to watch for 2026, clearly. Ted, Ted, thanks ever so much for joining me and talking about everything we've learned at ICE this week. and to the audience. Thank you ever so much for tuning in to another episode of iGaming Daily, and come back tomorrow to keep up to date with all the latest global gambling news.