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VSiN Names Steve Cohen as Executive Vice President of Talent and Programming

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Sports Betting Network VsiN has announced the appointment of long-time media industry executive Steve Cohen as the network’s Executive Vice President, Talent and Programming. Cohen spent the last 20 years as the Senior Vice President of Sports Programming at SiriusXM, where he built and oversaw their sports talk radio stations, including channels done in collaboration with all professional sports leagues. He will join VSiN leadership in working to rapidly expand sponsorship, distribution, and audience, while continuing to deliver the most credible content sports bettors can find anywhere.

“With more than 37 years under his belt, Steve is one of the most respected and innovative executives in the media business and was key in VSiN’s original launch on SiriusXM. Having launched more than a dozen sports talk radio stations, including SiriusXM NFL Radio and Mad Dog Sports Radio following a successful 17-year career in terrestrial radio, it’s hard to find a media leader with more experience giving an audience exactly what they’re looking for. He is a beloved manager with a track record of getting the best out of talent and a unique understanding of the importance of unbiased, credible information for sports bettors,” VSiN Founder Brian Musburger said.

With a focus on delivering superior sports betting programming, Cohen will identify new talent, strengthen the network’s lineup, and create additional content for broader distribution. The network will leverage his decades of experience across sports and media channels to support VSiN’s mission of delivering sports news, analysis and insights that bettors use to help make more informed betting decisions.

“Since I first met the team back in 2015, I’ve known that they were building something special. I’m excited to join a group that has always been at the forefront of the sports betting industry and look forward to the opportunity to leverage my experience creating content across every sport and medium to deliver an exceptional product that satisfies the content needs of all sports fans, especially those who wager on sports,” said Cohen.

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Cohen joined SiriusXM in 2004 and, as Senior Vice President of Sports Programming, he built and oversaw the company’s sports news and talk programs on all of SiriusXM’s sports channels, including the hiring of talent, show development and production. He led the development and launch of first-of-their-kind dedicated league-partnered sports radio channels like SiriusXM NFL Radio, SiriusXM NBA Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. In addition, Cohen and his team built and programmed SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, SiriusXM College Sports Radio, SiriusXM FC, SiriusXM Fight Nation, the all-sports Mad Dog Sports Radio channel, as well as individual channels dedicated to the Power Five college conferences. He oversaw MLB Network Radio, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio channels since the merger of Sirius and XM in 2008. He was also responsible for overseeing all live play-by-play programming available to SiriusXM listeners, including NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL games, NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula One, golf, college sports, international soccer, horse racing and more.

Before joining SiriusXM, Cohen worked at WFAN Sports Radio in New York, where he served as the Executive Producer for both the New York Jets Radio Network and New York Giants Radio Network. He was among the pioneers of the fantasy sports industry when he founded the Pro Football News and Injury Report in the early 1990s and was inducted into the Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. In addition to his hosting on WFAN, Sirius XM, Westwood One and Fox Sports Radio, he has written for several print and digital outlets, including ESPN.com, the New York Daily News, New Haven Register, Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Newark Star-Ledger.

Recently Cohen was honored as the recipient of the 2024 Jeff Smulyan Award given by Barrett Media. Cohen oversaw programming that won multiple Cynopsis and Ad-Week Awards for Best Radio shows and podcasts and he and his team received the 2005 Eclipse Award.

A graduate of the University of Arizona, Cohen began his career in 1987 as a board operator and tape editor at WFAN.

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Brazil

Brazilian Ministry of Sports and IBIA sign sports betting integrity agreement

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The Brazilian Ministry of Sports and the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) have signed a sports betting integrity cooperation agreement. This partnership will enable the sharing of information concerning suspicious betting activity connected to Brazilian sports and support collaboration on integrity-related investigations.

The agreement brings together the governmental body tasked with safeguarding the integrity and development of Brazilian sport, and the largest international betting integrity monitor for private operators in the world. Leading industry data and intelligence company H2 Gambling Capital has forecast that IBIA covers more than 70% of Brazil’s licensed remote gambling market.

According to ‘The Availability of Sports Betting Products: An Economic and Integrity Analysis’ study published last year, the sports betting regulatory regime in Brazil is projected to create $34bn (R$191.7bn) in sports betting turnover by 2028. With this increased growth comes a greater responsibility to protect customers, sports and betting operators from match-fixing.

A key element of the new Brazilian regulatory framework is the requirement that operators seeking a licence must join an independent sports integrity monitoring body. This licensing requirement is helping to strengthen IBIA’s capacity to monitor, assess and protect betting transactions in Brazil’s regulated sports betting market and maintain the integrity of Brazilian sporting events.

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Minister of Sport, André Fufuca, said: “Today we are signing a milestone in the fight against match-fixing in Brazilian sport. Integrity must be a constant principle when it comes to transparency, ethics and, above all, the correctness of sports results. With these agreements, we will have more than enough instruments to curb this practice and guarantee greater transparency in competitions. Thus, athletes, clubs, organizations, fans and the entire population will be able to fully trust in the fairness of the results and, with this, will have peace of mind to develop the full potential of Brazilian sport.”

Khalid Ali, IBIA CEO, said: “IBIA welcomes this important partnership with the Brazilian Ministry of Sports. As the market grows, so too does the responsibility to ensure that robust integrity safeguards are in place. This agreement will ensure that information on suspicious betting is swiftly shared with the Ministry to support effective integrity actions. This includes access to detailed, account-level data available only through IBIA’s unique network.”

IBIA is a globally recognised non-profit organization that seeks to safeguard the integrity of the sports and betting sectors by fighting betting related match-fixing and fraud. It provides a free integrity monitoring service to sports governing bodies, regulatory authorities, government ministries, and law enforcement agencies that, importantly, has no potential conflicts created by the provision of competing commercial services, enabling all parties to efficiently and effectively cooperate in investigating, prosecuting and deterring sports betting related match-fixing.

IBIA monitors over $300bn per annum in betting turnover across more than 140 sports betting brands globally, making IBIA the largest betting integrity monitor of its type for private operators in the world. The association’s unrivalled access to detailed global customer transactional data has, and will continue, to play a pivotal role in protecting the Brazilian sports betting market and sporting events from corrupt activity. IBIA recently released its global alert data for the first quarter of 2025, detailing that 63 cases of suspicious betting were reported to the relevant authorities.

The post Brazilian Ministry of Sports and IBIA sign sports betting integrity agreement appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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partnerships

Brøndby IF Enters into Three-year Partnership with Betano

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Brøndby IF has entered into a three-year partnership with Betano, the premium online sports betting and gaming brand of Kaizen Gaming, one of the biggest GameTech companies in the world. Betano will become the main partner and shirt sponsor for Brøndby IF’s Superliga team starting from the summer of 2025.

Ole Palmå, CEO of Brøndby IF, said: “This is not just a large and important commercial agreement – it is a strategic partnership with an organisation that matches our ambitions. Over the past months, we have had a strong dialogue with Betano about what such a collaboration could look like and our views have been totally aligned. We are therefore very pleased with this agreement and the partnership, which will run until the summer of 2028.

“Betano’s parent company, Kaizen Gaming, is an international player with a documented responsible approach to gaming, an established presence in 19 markets and partnerships with renowned sports clubs and organisations, including Aston Villa, River Plate, and Portugal’s ‘Big Three’, as well as UEFA for the Europa League, the Conference League and the EURO 2024. We are therefore very pleased that this agreement places us on the international stage, where responsibility and professionalism are key values for all parties.”

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Julio Iglesias, Chief Commercial Officer at Kaizen Gaming, said: “We are very excited about this new partnership with Brøndby IF – our first in Denmark, where Betano launched just last year, and in Scandinavia as a whole. Brøndby IF has one of the greatest histories and football cultures in Denmark, it has developed some of the country’s greatest legends and is backed by incredibly passionate fans. We see this partnership as far more than a traditional sponsorship. The club’s ambitions align with those of Kaizen Gaming and Betano, and we want to be a partner that contributes to Brøndby IF’s continued development as one of the leading football clubs in Scandinavia.”

Martin Sahlertz, Sales & Business Development Manager at Brøndby IF, said: “Betano’s approach is very much in line with our vision of what a modern sports partnership should look like – with a strong focus on purposeful, brand-led content and digital engagement. Together, we aim to create activations that not only strengthen both brands but also deliver value to our fans.”

The post Brøndby IF Enters into Three-year Partnership with Betano appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Australia

RWA Expresses Concern Over Govt’s Decision to Double Tax Cap on Licensed Online WSPs

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Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA) has expressed serious concern over the Northern Territory Government’s decision to double the annual bookmaker and betting exchange tax cap on licensed online Wagering Service Providers (WSPs), warning that the move is economically reckless and risks undermining the Territory’s reputation as a stable and competitive licensing jurisdiction.

The doubling of the cap, announced in the Northern Territory Budget, comes without any industry consultation and, perplexingly, before the final report of the Northern Territory Government’s own Racing Industry Review – a review explicitly commissioned to inform long-term sustainability settings for the wagering and racing sectors.

Responsible Wagering Australia CEO Kai Cantwell said the decision had blindsided the industry and would put investment from WSPs – who are some of the NT’s biggest employers – at risk.

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“RWA have participated meaningfully in the review and eagerly anticipated a new strategic vision for racing in the Territory. This decision, made before the Review has had a chance to lay that strategic vision, has blindsided WSPs and materially undermines any outcome of the Review,” Mr Cantwell said.

“RWA members have proudly supported the Territory for years, investing in people, infrastructure, and long-term economic growth.

“We will continue to advocate for a licensing environment in the Northern Territory that upholds the highest standards of consumer protection while also incentivising business to invest in the local economy.

“RWA members are all licensed in the Northern Territory, directly employing around 600 Territorians in high-skilled roles across technology, customer service, and compliance – a figure that rises to over 1,000 when including all wagering service providers licensed in the Territory.”

In FY23 alone, the Australian licensed online wagering industry contributed more than $150 million to the Northern Territory economy, including:

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• $47.7 million in taxes and levies

• $2.5 million in product fees to the NT racing industry – directly supporting prize money, operations and promotional activities

• $46 million in wages paid to local staff

“The NT Government was elected on a platform of driving economic growth, delivering a competitive tax and investment environment and attracting private investment, with Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro stating the Territory is ‘open for business’ and passing legislation to ‘strengthen our ability to deliver economic growth and attract investment’ – yet this policy decision directly contradicts that commitment and risks undermining investor confidence in the Territory,” Mr Cantwell said.

RWA questioned the timing of the announcement, noting that it comes before the outcomes of the Government’s ongoing Racing Industry Review have been released.

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“This tax hike preempts the outcome of the Review, a process that was meant to guide long-term, evidence-based and sensible reform,” Mr Cantwell said.

“It sends a message that consultation, process and industry sustainability have taken a back seat to short-term revenue grabs.

“A financially sustainable and well-regulated racing and wagering industry is critical to ensuring its long-term viability and the significant economic and employment benefits it delivers to Territorians.

“Rather than imposing blunt tax increases, the Government should be working with industry to identify growth opportunities that will ensure the Territory’s continued leadership as a licensing jurisdiction.

“We are calling on the Treasurer and Chief Minister to reconsider this decision and to engage in genuine consultation with the industry before moving forward.”

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The post RWA Expresses Concern Over Govt’s Decision to Double Tax Cap on Licensed Online WSPs appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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