Latest News
Roberto Carlos exclusive: the Global Ambassador for Football for Friendship answers the questions of Young Participants from all over the world

The former Brazilian international, three-time winner of the Champions League and Global Ambassador of the Gazprom International Children’s Social Programme Football for Friendship (F4F), Roberto Carlos, spoke in an exclusive press conference with Young Players and Young Journalists about his life, his career and his support for F4F.
Roberto Carlos won the World Cup with the Brazilian national team in 2002. He also won the UEFA Champions League title three times (1998, 2000 and 2002) with Real Madrid as well as numerous national league championship titles. Currently, he is working as a youth coach at Real Madrid. Since 2020 he has also been a Global Ambassador for Football for Friendship. He has supported the programme since 2019, when he presented the winners of the F4F World Championship the cup at the closing events in Madrid, having taken part in other important highlights of the tournament as well.
In an online press conference at the end of May, he answered a wide range of questions from Young Players and Young Journalists with charm and wit. The topics ranged from the highlights of his career to his relationship with his family, his native country Brazil, and his support for Football for Friendship.
Asked about his most famous goal, Roberto Carlos couldn’t suppress a smile at first because, as he explained, he is often asked this question. But he then went on to mention his free kick against France on 3rd June 1997 at the Tournament of France in the 21st minute of the game and also his spectacular goal against CD Teneriffa on 21st February 1998. He also explained that the derby match between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona had always been a highlight. He said that the Brazilian national team of 2002 and Real Madrid with its galacticos were his favourite teams, and argued that whether or not football was becoming more and more commercialised depended a lot on the actual club. Overall, football would continue to develop both technically and tactically.
He told David Sargent from Ireland that it was true that he had been named after the famous Brazilian singer Roberto Carlos Braga. It had been the wish of his father, whose favourite singer this was. He, Roberto Carlos, was a great admirer of the Brazilian singer Alexandre Pires. He explained that his family had been poor and that, when he was twelve, he had wanted to become a lawyer. But then everything had quickly turned out differently: a football career in Brazil, the national team and an invitation to play in Europe. He said that his family had always supported him, particularly his father, who had played football himself. And, of course, it had been painful to leave his family when he was just 13 years old.
Kinley Deki Yangzom from Bhutan asked him what he would do differently. He replied that everything had gone well and had helped him to develop personally and professionally. He told Miriam Sheahan from Ireland that he had never been afraid. But of course he had had dreams, for example to be able to build his parents a house.
In his view, respect towards others, and good, friendly behaviour – towards one’s opponent as well – were important qualities. He told Dominic Kramberger from Sweden that teamwork was an important precondition for success. And his answer to the question from Xuance Li, a Young Journalist from China, was that, because he himself had always behaved properly towards others, he had never been offended by anyone. Mihajlo Nasik, a Young Journalist from Serbia, played Roberto Carlos a serenade on his piano and then asked him about his creative hobbies. Roberto answered that he didn’t have any special talents and that his life was taken up with football 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Doro Yusupov from Tajikistan wanted to know what, in his view, were typical traditions in Brazil. The football star’s answer was good fortune, good food, respect for one’s family and the desire to spend the weekend with one’s family. Aahana Kamboj from India observed that Brazil had so many good footballers and asked whether it was to do with a particular kind of sand on the beaches there. Carlos replied that he had lived in India for some time and had a great love for the country. He went on to explain that the sand on the beaches most certainly wasn’t the reason why Brazil had so many good footballers. Quite simply, the people in his country played football everywhere and everyone wanted to become a star.
What he found good about Football for Friendship was that so many Young Players and Young Journalists meet up and can interact with one another. He thanked the young people for their many interesting questions and wished them all every success.
The 9th season of Football for Friendship is taking place in an online format from 14th to 29th May 2021. This year, F4F is bringing boys and girls together from more than 200 countries and regions. Young Players aged 12 are taking part in the 2021 Football for Friendship eWorld Championship (eF4F). The competition is being played on “F4F World”, the football simulator, which is available free of charge in 27 languages on MS Windows, Apple MacOS, Android and iOS.
Young Journalists report in the International Children’s Press Centre on the events in the 9th season of Football for Friendship and share with their friends the most important values in the programme: friendship, equality, fairness, health, peace, devotion, victory, traditions, and honour.
You can watch the video of this press conference by clicking on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi6qD7wkhWA.
Aahana Kamboj, India: “I really enjoyed the session with Football for Friendship Global Ambassador, Roberto Carlos, where the Young Journalists from different countries asked questions related to his football career. Even I got the opportunity to ask a question. According to Roberto, teamwork is the key to success, and everyone must follow this rule to be successful in life.”
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Gambling in the USA
GAMING INDUSTRY’S TOP CEOs BILL HORNBUCKLE, PETER JACKSON & JASON ROBINS TO KEYNOTE G2E 2025

Main Stage Also Features Tribal Innovation Discussion Oct. 6; Global Gaming Women to Present Mental Health Dialogue Oct. 8
The Global Gaming Expo, presented by the American Gaming Association (AGA) and organized by RX, announces its highly anticipated main stage programming for G2E 2025. Over three days, G2E will feature conversations with some of the most influential voices in gaming and offer diverse perspectives on the future of the industry. G2E 2025 takes place Oct. 6-9 at The Venetian Expo in Las Vegas and marks the event’s 25th year.
“We are honored to welcome a distinguished lineup of key industry leaders to the G2E main stage,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “As we mark 25 years of G2E, we’re proud to continue to be a catalyst for gaming’s growth, and our programming reflects the ideas and leadership shaping the industry’s future.”
Progress or Pressure: How Tribes Can Harness Innovation on Their Terms
Monday, Oct. 6 at 4 p.m. Doors open at 3:30 p.m.
Indian Gaming Association (IGA) Chairman Ernie Stevens Jr. will open the main stage by underscoring the central contributions of tribal operators to the U.S. gaming landscape and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Bringing together leading tribal voices, the program will explore how tribes embrace innovation on their own terms—balancing growth with sovereignty and long-term success. Panelists will address how emerging technologies, evolving business models, and the rise of illegal, unregulated markets are reshaping the competitive environment. The dialogue will highlight both the opportunities to harness new tools for sustainable growth and the pressures of protecting the industry’s integrity in a rapidly changing landscape.
Moderated by IGA’s Executive Director Jason Giles, the conversation will feature:
- Rodney Butler, Chairman, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation
- James Siva, Chairman, California Nations Indian Gaming Association
Additional participants may be announced in the coming days.
Inside the C-Suite: Gaming’s Future in Focus on Stage
Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 8:45 a.m. Doors open at 8:15 a.m.
AGA President and CEO Bill Miller will open G2E 2025’s keynote session, welcoming global gaming professionals and underscoring the strength and momentum of legal gaming upon the opening of the industry’s biggest gathering of the year.
Following Miller’s remarks, Hope King, founder of Macro Talk, on-air contributor to Yahoo Finance, and events host and moderator for Axios, will lead an impactful series of one-on-one conversations with top global gaming CEOs. Discussions will address key trends and challenges shaping the industry—including investor expectations, domestic and international expansion, and intensifying competition in regulated and unregulated markets. Featuring:
- Bill Hornbuckle – CEO & President, MGM Resorts International
- Peter Jackson – CEO, Flutter Entertainment
- Jason Robins – CEO, DraftKings
The session will conclude at 10 a.m., immediately followed by the opening of the expo floor.
Breaking the Stigma: An Honest Dialogue on Mental Health
Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 9 a.m. Doors open at 8:45 a.m.
Multi-sport athlete and mental health advocate Kendall Toole will share her personal journey in a conversation moderated by Global Gaming Women (GGW) Sip & Social Chair Meghan Speranzo. Presented by GGW, the session will foster an open dialogue on mental health, designed to reframe how attendees think about wellness and inspire stronger voices across the gaming industry and beyond. This conversation will be open to all badge holders. Ahead of the discussion, GGW will host their Sip & Social event from 8 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. in the same room. For more information on this separate networking event, visit globalgamingwomen.org/event-6325670.
Presented by the AGA and organized by RX, G2E’s full education lineup features more than 100 sessions. G2E 2025 runs from October 6-9 (Education: October 6-9 | Expo Hall: October 7-9) at The Venetian Expo in Las Vegas.
Since 2001, G2E has served as the premier global event for the legal, regulated gaming industry, fostering innovation and driving growth across casinos, hospitality, technology, iGaming, sports betting, and more. The event will welcome over 25,000 industry professionals from more than 120 countries, regions, and territories, and nearly 400 exhibitors showcasing the latest global gaming technologies.
For more information, visit globalgamingexpo.com.
The post GAMING INDUSTRY’S TOP CEOs BILL HORNBUCKLE, PETER JACKSON & JASON ROBINS TO KEYNOTE G2E 2025 appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Latest News
Podium’s Racing Data to Power Dabble’s Social-led Betting Service in the UK

Podium, a leading global provider of trusted sports content and data solutions, is working with Dabble to help bring its socially driven betting experience to UK audiences.
Dabble combines traditional betting functionality with a social media-style interface to offer the next generation of racing fans a more interactive way to connect and share. The app-based platform is integrated with Betmakers technology, with all UK horse and greyhound racing data delivered by Podium.
Ian Houghton, Commercial Director at Podium says: “At Podium, we are always excited when we see innovation in the industry, so we are delighted to play a part of Dabble’s expansion into the UK market, particularly at a time when the racing industry needs to retain a younger audience. We look forward to exploring how Podium’s services can continue to support Dabble’s global ambitions.”
The collaboration, which has been in place since the summer, marks an evolution in how racing data is used and experienced, with Podium delivering UK racing content via Betmakers technology to help power Dabble’s social platform.
Tom Rundle, CEO of Dabble, says: “Dabble’s move into the UK is a natural fit. We’re a challenger brand with an exciting product that we built ourselves from scratch. We’re already seeing that resonate with the UK audience. Yes, you can get a bet on, but essentially, we are placing ourselves as being community driven. We’re creating a richer experience at every touch point.”
The UK is Dabble’s third international market, following rapid growth after launching in its native Australia.
The post Podium’s Racing Data to Power Dabble’s Social-led Betting Service in the UK appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Campus Gambling
College Partnerships Under Scrutiny: The Future of Campus Gambling Deals – Compliance, Alternatives, PR Risk

The era of splashy sportsbook logos wrapped around student sections is fading fast, and for good reason. What looked like an easy revenue win after the expansion of legal sports betting now sits at the intersection of compliance complexities, reputational hazards, and evolving cultural expectations about how gambling interacts with college life. Universities are recalibrating their risk tolerance, athletic departments are revisiting sponsorship inventories, and operators are rethinking whether campus-facing marketing is worth the blowback. At Gambling Freedom Casino and News Portal, we’ve seen the conversation shift from “How big can this get?” to “How do we do this responsibly,or not at all?” The answer is not a simple yes or no; it’s a recognition that the future of campus gambling deals will be smaller, more carefully segmented, and anchored in integrity and harm minimization. That future rewards institutions and brands that can communicate clearly, document compliance rigorously, and operate with a “help-first, hype-later” mindset.
From a compliance standpoint, the baseline in 2025 is tighter than many casual observers realize. Industry marketing standards increasingly discourage promotions that could be perceived as targeting students, and the phraseology once common in acquisition campaigns is now off-limits or strongly discouraged. In parallel, more state regulators are scrutinizing college markets, especially player-specific proposition bets, on the grounds that they heighten the risk of harassment and integrity issues. The NCAA has spent the last few seasons pushing for stronger athlete protections and a more consistent compliance posture across jurisdictions. Put all of that together and the practical effect is clear: even if a category is technically legal in one state, the patchwork of rules, guidance, and best practices makes campus-facing deals a compliance headache and a reputational gamble. The safest route is to build partnerships that avoid student channels, exclude conversion-driven creative around college events, and lean into education, integrity, and alumni engagement where age gating and segmentation are both meaningful and auditable.
Reputational risk is the other half of the equation and it’s often underestimated until it isn’t. The optics of a sportsbook brand appearing inside a campus venue or in an email blast that lands in student inboxes can overshadow months of careful planning. In the digital age, a single misguided subject line or banner placement can live forever in screenshots, resurfacing whenever a university confronts unrelated controversies. For athletic departments, the blowback doesn’t just come from national media; local stakeholders, faculty governance, and alumni donors have strong opinions about how a school’s brand is used. The narrative can turn quickly: what a marketing team frames as “supporting athletics” can be framed by critics as “monetizing student attention with gambling.” Add the human dimension—students and athletes facing social media pressure tied to bets and the reputational calculus tilts further away from broad-based campus advertising. Once a school becomes the example cited in op-eds and parent forums, every future sponsorship meeting starts on defense, which is a tremendous tax on leadership attention and goodwill.
So where does that leave universities and sportsbooks that still want to collaborate responsibly? The first lane is alumni-only engagement that lives firmly outside student media. Think association newsletters sent to verified recipients, event activations tied to homecoming for over-21 alumni, and gated digital experiences where age verification and alumni status are both required. The operative phrase is segmentation with proof: CRM hygiene that suppresses any .edu domains associated with enrolled students, third-party age checks that withstand audit, and creative that emphasizes responsible play rather than acquisition gimmicks. It is equally important to leave campus-owned assets out of the plan entirely: no student newspaper, no student radio, no in-venue signage within sightlines dominated by under-21 attendees, and no .edu pages. Success here is measured by quiet compliance, not splashy vanity metrics. Campaign briefs should spell out what will not be done (no first-bet language, no odds boosts tied to school IP, no promo codes keyed to team names), and media buys should be geofenced and frequency-capped to avoid spillover impressions.
The second lane is integrity and data cooperation, which is fundamentally different from marketing. Rather than converting users, these partnerships focus on protecting competitions and people. Universities and operators can align around standardized reporting protocols for suspicious activity, training modules for staff and athletes that explain wagering rules and red flags, and secure data exchanges that support real-time anomaly detection. When structured correctly, integrity agreements do not place sportsbook logos on campus; they establish clear lines of responsibility, define escalation paths if something looks off, and include audit rights to ensure both sides are living up to the agreement. Forward-thinking athletic departments are building dashboards that track integrity KRIs (key risk indicators) across seasons, and operators are assigning compliance liaisons who can respond quickly to questions about markets, limits, and emerging risks. A valuable signal of sincerity is a proactive stance on contentious markets: choosing not to market college player props or removing them from any alumni-facing creative, sends a message that athlete wellbeing matters more than marginal handle.
A third lane is responsible-gambling (RG) education and independent research, an area where universities can lead with credibility if the funding and governance are set up correctly. The rule of thumb is “help, not hype.” Programming should elevate helplines and support resources, teach students and staff how to recognize early warning signs, and outline practical steps for friends or teammates who are worried about someone’s gambling. Workshops can be built for specific audiences, athletes, coaches, RAs, student leaders – with content tailored to situations they’ll likely encounter, like managing group chats during big games or dealing with harassment tied to a missed free throw. If an operator helps fund this work, the branding should be deliberately muted and the calls to action should point to counseling resources, not betting apps. On the research side, schools can host longitudinal studies on gambling behaviors and mental health that inform policy decisions across states. The key is independence: academic freedom, publication rights, and data privacy are non-negotiable. When these programs release annual reports with outcomes numbers trained, referrals made, satisfaction and knowledge retention scores, they earn trust with regulators and the public.
Embedding all of the above in real governance requires contracts and processes that are as rigorous as anything in broadcast rights or apparel. Agreements should explicitly exclude student-facing channels and campus IP in promotional contexts, require preclearance of all creative, and mandate third-party age and identity checks for any alumni lists used in marketing. Internal workflows matter just as much: establish a cross-functional signoff path that includes compliance, legal, athletics communications, the alumni office, and student affairs; maintain a living registry of all placements; and document every exception request and rejection. A quarterly audit, conducted by an independent partner, should test suppression lists, confirm geo and age parameters, and sample creatives for prohibited phrasing. Crisis preparedness is part of the job: have templates ready for misdirected emails, rogue social posts, and policy changes that force offer adjustments mid-season. Run tabletop exercises with leaders so everyone knows who approves the statement, who pauses the media, who contacts the vendor, and who answers reporter questions. The smoothest crises are the ones that never become public because the response is instant and well-rehearsed.
Looking ahead, the most realistic forecast is a smaller, safer lane for college–operator collaboration. Expect states and conferences to continue refining rules around bet types and advertising, particularly where athlete wellbeing and harassment are implicated. Expect universities to sunset remaining campus-facing placements in favor of alumni-only channels that leave a clean paper trail, lowering both compliance risk and noise around brand stewardship. Expect the integrity conversation to mature, with more standardized data formats, quicker reciprocity on investigations, and better education for the non-athlete campus community, resident advisors, counseling centers, and compliance staff who are often the first to notice when something is off. And expect that schools which articulate a clear philosophy- “We protect students, we protect athletes, we promote help-seeking, and we partner only where age-gated, auditable outcomes exist”, will spend less time in reactive posture and more time telling a positive story about values.
For operators, the business case is quiet credibility. Instead of chasing a fleeting burst of signups tied to a rivalry game, smart brands will invest in long-term reputation: integrity agreements that make competitions safer, alumni engagements that demonstrate real respect for age limits and context, and RG programs that exist to serve the community rather than acquire customers. That approach doesn’t just avoid headlines, it earns allies. Alumni who see careful, adult-only engagement are less likely to bristle at a brand’s presence. Regulators who see documented controls and public reporting are less likely to question motives. University leaders who see proof of restraint are more open to renewing low-risk collaborations. In other words, the playbook that Gambling Freedom recommends is not “do nothing,” but “do the right things, in the right places, for the right reasons.”
The final takeaway is simple: campus gambling deals are no longer a volume game; they are a values game. If your plan cannot be explained in a sentence that starts with student safety, athlete wellbeing, and competition integrity, it’s probably the wrong plan. If your KPIs are built around alumni engagement quality, RG outcomes, and zero incidents—not just clicks and codes, you’re on the right track. And if your processes assume that everything might one day be scrutinized by parents, faculty, alumni, and policymakers, you will build the sort of resilient partnership that can survive news cycles and leadership changes. Gambling Freedom exists to help universities and sportsbooks navigate precisely this terrain, compliance-conscious, PR-smart, and responsibility-first – so that whoever partners on college sports can do so with confidence, clarity, and respect for the communities they serve.
The post College Partnerships Under Scrutiny: The Future of Campus Gambling Deals – Compliance, Alternatives, PR Risk appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
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