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Welcome to the iGaming Daily podcast, analyzing the news from the betting and gaming industry all over the globe, supported by OptiMove, the number one CRM marketing solution for the iGaming market. 2026 is set to be a year of change for Ireland's gambling sector as it hails a new era of regulation and licensing with the introduction of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland. But what is set to change and how will operators have to adjust their strategy as both the UK and Ireland undergo monumental shifts in regulation? Welcome back to iGaming Daily, supported by Optimove, the creator of positionless marketing and the number one. player engagement platform for sports betting and iGaming operators. I'm Charlie Horner and today I'm joined by SBC News editor, Ted Omklay. And I'm also joined by Alan Houston, partner at McCann Fitzgerald and a member of the IMGL group of gaming lawyers. Ted, thanks for coming on. How are you doing? I'm good. Thank you, Charlie. Yeah. Thanks for bringing me on. We've been following a lot of the Irish legislative developments quite closely the past couple of years in SBC News. m So I'm quite interested to hear what Alan's got to say, some of his expertise on the matter. Yeah, exactly. We thought we'd best get some expert insight for this podcast. So Alan, thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy diary to join us today. How are you? Very good, Charlie. Very good, Ted. So delighted to join and share insights on what's happening here in Ireland. Fantastic. Well, let's dive into things because what we're discussing here essentially is the 2024 Gambling Regulation Act in Ireland. And that updated a decades old regulatory framework. Alan, I'm just wondering if there's been any sort of tough adjustments for operators in Ireland as a result of this significant shift. Yeah, I think it's fair to say that there will be certainly adjustments um from going where we were on the regulatory side in Ireland to where the gambling regulatory authority is looking to go. think it's fair to say, and it's been kind of widely acknowledged that the previous regime that we had in Ireland was kind of largely not fit for purpose. And even kind of when you look at say some of the quotes from from governments over the last number of years, you know, they would have kind of acknowledged that the And just looking at one particular, we will accept that current legislative framework is fragmented, outdated, lacks security, aren't licensing regulated roach, and it's in need of significant reform. it of goes, shows that we're going from a place where of kind of almost non-existent kind of regulation to kind of a proper modern regulatory authority. So that will bring adjustment for, for operators. And, know, the, the regulatory authority was was formed last year, but it will be this year when it takes full control of the market. How significant a moment is that and what changes are expected to happen during 2026? So the regulatory authority, Charlie, as you mentioned, it was established last year. It's a new regulatory authority. So we're going through the phase of, suppose they're having to staff up and get all of their systems in place. So They're going to adopt a phased approach to licensing in Ireland. And really the reason for that is to give them, I suppose, the capability to kind of deal with the applications that they're going to get. So if you look at, our existing regulatory regime, we had licenses for betting. And so you could get a sports betting license, retail or remote. But we didn't have a regulatory or licensing regime for gaming. So the new regime will create that licensing pathway for gaming. I suppose it's going to bring within the licensing regime in Ireland a lot more operators who are currently not within the regime. So to take account of that, the regulator is adopting a phased approach. So they're going to start in 2026 with betting licenses. So that will be B2C, remote or in-person or betting intermediary licenses. It's currently scheduled that they will be, I issued and operative from the 1st of July this year. And that's taking account that the existing licenses are due to expire on the 30th of June. After the first phase, so once the bidding licenses are granted, they're then going to move on to BTC remote gaming licenses. And at the moment, the indication that we have is that they'll open applications for B2C remote gaming licenses in Q4 26, but we don't have a firm date for when they'll become operative for them. So it's really, suppose the GRAI is in that process, I suppose, of ramping up and kind of that's why they're going with a phased approach to licensing. it's certainly been a busy couple of years in Ireland and Ted, this is something that you guys on SBC News have been covering quite extensively. What are the key things that you've pieced together about what's happening in Ireland? From a journalistic point of view, what have you been looking at closely? Well, as Alan's mentioned, this has been a huge modernisation of the Irish regulatory framework and the legislation around that. Yeah, we already spoke about how I think some of the existing legislation goes back many, decades. Alan, correct me if I'm wrong. Does some of them, I think it's 1931 was the betting act, right? Yeah. So you really, it kind of goes to show how, say, not fit for purpose. The existing kind of legislation is betting is governed by the betting acts 1931 with a slight amendment in 2015 to allow for remote betting licenses, gaming and lotteries. It's actually much, even earlier. It's 1956 Gaming Lotteries Act, which hasn't really been updated. National Lottery sits outside of that in its own kind of regulatory regime. So it's really, you know, you can see based on the kind of legislation alone, it's largely at a time where, you know, wasn't contemplating online. And that's kind of coming through. And I suppose a lot of the kind of provisions that are that are in place and a lot of kind of uncertainty that currently exists with the regime. Yeah, so, know, like Alan said, the importance of this is bringing it was bringing the regime in line with the modern demands of the market, I guess, with the market now being similar to what we see in a lot of other European nations, heavily dominated by online gambling, whilst this legislation dated back to a time when things would be more focused on track betting and things like that. And then later on the emergence of retail gaming. What I found interesting covering this as an industry journalist was, know, because at the time that we were writing about the gambling regulation bill in Ireland, we were also writing heavily about the gambling app review in the UK. And I just think the Irish legislation, I think, was passed with a lot more coherence and at least from my perspective as an outsider. a better level of engagement with the industry than I think the UK gambling review was. mean, know, Charlie, we covered a lot of this. It was incredibly chaotic over here, to say the least. yeah, I think the Irish market seems to be, at least again, from my perspective as an outsider, in a bit of a better space than what we're seeing in Britain. think obviously the creation of the GRAI is a pretty huge moment. The creation of the national regulator with a a much clearer, a very clear strategy and approach and objectives of what he wants to achieve. That will, like we said, create some, guess, some tough adjustments for companies with the various new requirements coming in. A lot of new focuses around player protection, around looking at the societal impacts of gambling in Ireland as well. And I mean, I think we've also seen a lot of conversations again, like we've seen in a lot of other European countries, like the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and so on. A conversation around the visibility of betting and gaming in sports and the extent of advertising. Obviously that's something that a lot of the legacy legislation wouldn't have dealt with because that just wouldn't have been a thing at the time, know, sponsorships in football and racing and so on. So yeah, we've been seeing a conversation around that that we've been following quite closely as well. And the age old topic of how advertising links in with societal impacts and player protection. think that could be quite a defining conversation going forward too. Yeah, Ted, you're absolutely right. Advertising and marketing is such a hot button issue, not just in the UK and Ireland, across Europe and across the world really. Alan, how aware should prospective licensees in in Ireland be of these advertising restrictions and standards that have been put in place? uh Well, obviously, very aware because I think you are going really from kind of that old regime where you had very little restrictions to a modern regime where you have, I suppose, a number of restrictions, particularly around advertising. And they are kind of they are quite wide ranging. So it goes from. you know, looking at kind of watershed advertising um on, you know, your broadcast media, but also on kind of on demand, you know, audiovisual or kind of our sound kind of platforms, but also then to, I suppose, some kind of wider reaching kind of restrictions in terms of advertising on, say, you know, your social media platforms, whereby you will now have restrictions whereby operators will only be able to advertise to customers who have an account with the social media platform, but also who follow the operator's account on the platform. it is really getting at some of the methods in terms of how operators will advertise in a really modern business. It has looked at kind of a lot of jurisdictions, UK and Malta, but also hasn't been afraid as opposed to come up with some of its own restrictions as well. We do see that regulators do like to go their own way and introduce standards of their own. Ted, before we go to a quick break, how would you compare Ireland's framework compared to some of those other European markets that you mentioned earlier in terms of the strictness and the stringency of some of the measures that are in place? That's an interesting question. I think From my perspective, I think it looks firm but fair. Like I said, I think that throughout this legislative process and the development of these new regulations, it appeared to me that the Irish government and the conversations around the creation of this new regulator involved quite a healthy level of engagement with the industry. We've seen some pretty clear standards coming in around player protection and I think we'll talk about this later, the creation of this social responsibility fund, quite a clear indicator of wanting to see the industry contribute to make a clear and regular contribution to responsibility and societal initiatives to gambling harm prevention and so on. As Alan just discussed, we're some very clear regulations around advertising and marketing as well. But I think there's going to be a good level of engagement and a decent relationship between the regulator and the industry. But all of this, if we look at some of the language we see in some regulatory statements as well, the authority is making it clear that it will act decisively in cases of non-compliance, in cases of irresponsible business behavior. like I say, but fair, I think would be my summary of it. Alan, how would you assess that sort of stringency compared to other markets? just as a little addendum to that, do you think that there has been good relations between the Irish government and other stakeholders of the industry in terms of establishing this framework? I suppose the Gambling Regulation Act, I suppose in its current form, has... I suppose it's the product of many years of attempts at reform in Ireland going back into the 90s. there's been a lot of different reviews that were done. um And I suppose for many different reasons that didn't actually get to the stage where we had an act. But I think it is fair to say that the government and the GRI, since it's been established, has sought consults, has listened to what operators have had to say, it has listened to what I suppose bodies who are involved in kind of dealing with kind of the impact of problem gambling, in fact, to say it has also kind of looked at, I suppose, across Europe in terms of what other regulatory authorities are doing and across the world. So they are informed, they and they're not afraid to, I suppose, adopt their own positions in terms of what what is right for the Irish market. I think one thing as well, just to note with the Gamming Regulation Act here in Ireland, is just how it's been framed, I suppose, by the government. You know, they're very clear that they're looking to balance the freedom to gamble with safeguards to protect. That's one of the things that they've stated. But I think an important kind of call out is that they have clearly said that at its core, the regulation is a public health measure aimed at protecting people from gambling harm. being, you know, young and vulnerable. So I suppose once it's there to facilitate, I suppose, providing a licensing platform, platform pathway, it is also supposed to not to be not surprising to see that it is going to have kind of restrictions, particularly having regards to the fact that it's framed as a public health measure. Brilliant. Well, Alan, Ted, we'll take a short break and we'll come back and we'll talk a little bit about some of those individual measures. SBC Leaders connects the gambling industry's top tier operators and associations to share the best ideas, collaborate on solving the biggest issues and push innovation throughout the betting and gaming industry. If you're an operator and want to join the discussion, visit sbcleaders.com for more information. Welcome back to iGaming Daily. Today we're having a deep dive into the gambling regulatory updates in Ireland. um Alan, before the break, Ted mentioned the social responsibility fund that Irish operators have a duty to abide by under this new regime. Could you tell us a little bit about the social responsibility fund and the significance that that's going to play in this new framework? Yeah, so the social responsibility fund, it's compulsory. So it's all operators who have a license will be required to contribute a percentage of their their turnover from Irish operations to the fund. And then the funds will be used by the GREI for a number of purposes ranging from research into gambling, but also public education, treatment support services, and a vast uh variety of other and met it. that's the fun that the very outset, I think we're already starting to see the intent of the GRAI and really what they're, you know, from some of the research that's already been published, that they're looking to adopt an evidence-based approach to support the approaches that they're taking in legislation. We've seen that where they've done research in relation to inducements and also kind of the link between say, the increased kind of potential problem gambling where children get access to gambling and problems in other life. So I think that's probably a positive as in like where you're using kind of research, I suppose, to provide an evidence based approach to kind of to back, I that are in the act. You mentioned there, protecting young people and maybe part of that being limiting what you can do on the inducement side of things. This act as a whole is a public health measure. Protecting vulnerable and young consumers is paramount to that. What requirements does the framework set out here? I guess, is that... born out of research and evidence or is it just taking inspiration from other markets around the world? they've obviously taken inspiration, I suppose, from other markets, but also again, back to the approach of conducting their own research and then using the evidence that's coming out of that research, as opposed to add weight to the positions that they're adopting. I suppose the protections that are in the act are quite wide ranging. know, there's obviously kind of a prohibition on operators from facilitating any form of gambling, say for children. There's very clear, I suppose, and stringent verification requirements set out in the act in terms of customer verification and how you actually verify someone's age and identity. And then... There are obviously a lot of restrictions in terms of the type of advertising content that can be put out there. can't have advertising that's in any way going to be appealing to children or seems to glorify gambling. So there is a lot in the act, but also I think there's going to be a lot more to come in the form of regulation and codes of practice as the GRI gets more established. Ted, looking at this from a wider European perspective, we see similar kind of measures in in other markets and it does generally end up in operators having to adjust their strategy. How do you think operators in Ireland will be viewing this update in terms of some of those advertising measures and protecting young consumers in comparison to things that they've had to do elsewhere? That's an interesting question. think, like you said, there's a lot of broad comparisons we can make here over the markets. think this is This is a trend we're seeing a lot across a lot of different European nations, lot of key European gambling markets, think. You know, with regards to making sure that marketing and promotions and so on, as Alan mentioned, do not come across as being overly induces to younger people, to underage consumers, not even necessarily people who are underage, you people who are just in a younger age bracket, like 18 to 24, maybe, where you're considered to be a bit more. financially vulnerable, perhaps financially reckless or something. I think this is part of a wider sort of adjustment we're seeing across some other key European markets. The two that would always come to mind for me would be the Netherlands and the UK. The rules that have come in there around using role models as the Dutch use the term in marketing, like athletes and celebrities who might be of appeal to a younger audience. m I think there's just a bit of a broader adjustment going on here. To tailor that specifically to Ireland, I guess this all links back to what we were talking about earlier with this being uh a very far-reaching and wide-ranging modernization of the legislative framework, em not just bringing in advertising and marketing restrictions, but also some of the things that Alan mentioned with regards to ID verification, eh sorry, lost my train of thought there. was I saying? ID verification, deposit limits and so on and bonusing. It's a very thorough uh update to how the market operates and the kind of restrictions and requirements that operators need to adhere to. Yeah, that's right. mean, as Alan says, we're updating some very sort archaic uh legislation here. It's almost 100 years old, that original betting act. Alan, I can't imagine that player protection was at the forefront of the legislative em branch in 1931. So what are the main updates from a player protection point of view in this new act? Yeah, think Charlie, I think it's fair to say that there was limited legislative player protection measures in the existing uh legislation. m And it was really kind of incumbent on operators to apply on a voluntary basis. Some of their kind of more, the wider European kind of player protection measures in Ireland, whereas new regime very, very far ranging. obviously there's the, you know, kind of, I suppose all of the advertising restrictions that we would have already spoke about. And then there's the obligations on, on operators to on the remote side where you have to self-exclusion and there is going to be a self-exclusion register. You will have to provide all players with the ability to set spending limits. You will have to an obligation to provide information to players in terms of the signs of problem gambling, know, details on how much they've gambled in a period. So it's really kind of what you would expect having in regard to, you know, modern kind of regulatory regime, looking at kind of all of the measures you'll see across Europe and, you uh know, as jurisdictions have kind of modernised their regulation. then just, just finally, really just to close off, it seems like there's been a consensus in Ireland that this is something that needed to happen. m from the regulatory and from the government side of things. Has there been any pushback from the industry itself? Is it something that you think might, in a couple of years, we might go in and re-regulate this as we've seen in some other markets across the world? Or do think this is something that will be a little bit more stable and has the buying of the industry? think the industry, certainly there were some surveys done back in 2018, 2019 where industry would have been surveyed as well, who would have, I suppose, all been of the same view that regulatory reform was needed because what we had just wasn't fit for purpose from anyone's perspective. So if you take gaming in particular, the Gaming Lottery Act 56 is prohibitive by nature. So unless something was specifically provided for, I suppose, then the question. rose as to what is the regulatory regime that applies to gaming in Ireland. So that uncertainty wasn't good for operators. It wasn't good for players, as we've seen, you know, the protections that were in place again, very limited. So again, that's not good from a player protection point. And I think we're in that phase at the moment where I suppose because the first licenses and the requirements haven't actually been issued where operators are getting their head around some of the provisions and how they will operate. So for example, we even though the first licenses on betting will go live on the 1st of July, we don't have kind of technical standards published by the regulator and they won't be published in advance of that. All operators have been told is that um their licenses will come with a condition that when technical standards are published, they have to comply. That is difficult for operators because obviously any changes that need to make to their platform take time and resources and you want to do it once. So not having to technical standards, I suppose, is something that I think operators would certainly be feeding back is causing problems and concerns to them at the moment. So I think we're in that scenario that until you see the actual kind of regime in operation, we don't quite have a sense of kind of how maybe some of the measures are going to play out. Yeah, lots has happened in the last couple of years, but of course there's plenty more that will happen over the next year and beyond. em We'll obviously keep a close eye on everything that happens in Ireland on SBC News and if there's anything significant we'll bring it to you on iGaming Daily. em But that leaves me to say, Alan, thank you very much for taking the time today. We've really enjoyed getting your experience and expertise. And Ted. Thanks for joining me as always. yeah, Alan Houston, partner at McCann Fitzgerald and a member of the IMGL group of gaming lawyers joining us on iGaming Daily there. So thank you very much. Charlie. Thanks, Ted. Thank you for listening to today's iGaming Daily podcast, supported by OptiMove, the number one CRM marketing solution for the iGaming market. If you want to find out more about some of the subjects raised today, Feel free to explore any of the sites in the SBC News Network or check out the latest edition of the SBC Leaders Magazine. Happy reading.