A panel of industry “outside thinkers” gathers in the iGB Studio to debate whether iGaming can continue to thrive as regulation tightens worldwide, bringing together Alex Tomic, founder of Alea; Sam Sadi, CEO of LiveScore Group; Henk Wolff, strategic director at iGamingConsultant.eu; and Ed Birkin of H2 Gambling Capital.
The central theme was clear: regulation is no longer just compressing margins but also reshaping which markets are suitable for investment at all. The operators’ economics are being altered by higher taxes, stricter product rules and stricter marketing restrictions in several key markets.
Panellists repeatedly point to tax rates above key thresholds, often cited around 30%, as a tipping point where licensed operators struggle to compete with illegal alternatives, accelerating black-market activity rather than suppressing it.
Regulatory pressure fuels black-market growth
Across Europe, the US and Latin America, the panel observes the same pattern: tougher regulation pushes players toward unregulated channels.
“It’s not a fight anymore, it’s adaptation,” Sadi says, warning that capital will simply move to more favourable environments when legal markets become unworkable.
From product design to legal engineering
Innovation, the panel agrees, is shifting away from product design toward regulatory workarounds. “It’s finding innovative ways to find loopholes in the current legislation,” Sadi adds.
Sweepstake models, prediction markets and crypto casinos are described as lawyer-led responses to restrictive regulation, blurring the line between licensed and unlicensed play.
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