iGaming market weekly report | Mar 30–Apr 5, 2026

Top gainers

Norway +46.2% — The spike aligns with the first “double-football” weekend of 2026: on April 5-7, Eliteserien played its second matchday (Molde vs. newly-promoted Lillestrøm, Tromsø vs. Rosenborg) while the second-tier OBOS-ligaen launched its season — the first time both Norwegian tiers ran simultaneously. Since Eliteserien follows a spring-to-autumn calendar, this marks the early peak of a brand-new season, landing after months when local sports coverage was dominated by a visibly struggling Norsk Tipping.

Mozambique +27% —  No clear country-specific trigger surfaced within the reporting window. 

Colombia +26.3% — All four Colombian Copa Libertadores entrants — Junior, Millonarios, Independiente Medellín and Deportivo Tolima — enter the group stage as play begins April 7–9, putting Colombia third among CONMEBOL nations in group-stage representation. The buildup week consistently pulls Colombian acquisition intent forward of tournament kickoff.

Tanzania +18.6% — Domestic Ligi Kuu Bara fixtures and the broad East African football cycle restart coincided with a clean baseline. No policy or enforcement trigger surfaced; classified as sports-driven drift upward on continental momentum.

Chad +18.4% — Domestic Première Division fixtures continued through late March into early April (Rounds 22–23), coinciding with the tail end of 2027 AFCON qualification momentum against Burundi (matches on March 27 & 31).

Top decliners

Cambodia –56.8% — Event hangover plus active suppression. Cambodia appeared in last week’s gainers at +9.8% and has now given back more than five times that. The Commercial Gambling Management Commission revoked Casino Licence No. 040 CGMC on April 3 following an April 1 raid on Shang Hai Resort in Svay Rieng, where 107 foreign nationals tied to scam operations were detained. An Amnesty International report published on April 4 named twelve additional licensed casinos linked to scam compounds.

Nepal –55.4% — Active suppression. The Nepal Telecommunications Authority confirmed on April 5 that more than 7,000 betting-related URLs and apps had been blocked under new Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s 100-point reform plan, following the March 27 Cabinet decision ordering ISPs to disable all gambling platforms within 24 hours. This is the largest single policy-driven compression in the week’s board.

US-Georgia –54.9% — Event hangover. The NCAA Tournament passed through its dead week between the Elite Eight (March 28–29) and the Final Four (April 4). Only two Final Four games fell inside the reporting window, while the championship game landed on the week’s closing day. Georgia, a non-regulated state, had compressed naturally off the prior week’s Sweet 16 / Elite Eight saturation.

Bolivia –54.8% — Mean-reversion plus disappointment from the World Cup playoff exit. Bolivia had surged in the previous week on the back of their March 26 playoff win over Suriname, but lost the decisive final to Iraq 1–2 on April 1, eliminating them from 2026 World Cup contention. This was compounded by Holy Week observance in a majority-Catholic country, with Good Friday on April 3 and Easter Sunday on April 5, which took the remaining surge straight back out.

Saudi Arabia –53.3% — Delayed post-Ramadan unwind, amplified by regional tensions from the ongoing Iran war. Attention peaked in the final ten days of Ramadan (ending March 20, Eid al-Fitr March 20–21) and has now reversed in the second full post-Eid week. This follows the same pattern seen last week in Qatar, UAE and Sierra Leone, with Saudi lagging one cycle amid broader Gulf uncertainty.

Market spotlight: Cambodia | –56.8%

Cambodia lost more than half its acquisition intent in a single week after appearing in last week’s gainers. The sharp reversal was triggered by two concentrated enforcement actions at the end of the reporting period.

On April 1, police raided Shang Hai Resort Casino in Svay Rieng and detained dozens of foreign nationals linked to scam operations. Two days later, the Commercial Gambling Management Commission revoked the casino’s licence. The following day, Amnesty International released a report naming multiple licensed casinos connected to scam compounds involving forced labor and trafficking.

This combination of a high-profile raid, licence revocation, and international exposé has created strong reputational pressure. Further crackdowns are expected, and the market is likely to settle at a significantly lower baseline rather than recover to previous levels.

Regional snapshot

Europe 

Region showed a narrow but extreme split. Norway led the entire board at +46.2% on the Eliteserien restart, while Switzerland — last week’s European leader at +14.6% — dropped out of the top movers entirely as its gain baked in. No other European market appeared in either direction, indicating a quiet continent outside the Nordic football cycle.

Asia-Pacific 

Cambodia at –56.8%, Nepal at –55.4%, Saudi Arabia at –53.3%, Japan at –49.7%, Australia at –45.8%, and AU-Queensland at –42.8% collectively make the region the week’s compression story. The causes are unrelated — enforcement in Cambodia and Nepal, post-Ramadan unwind and Iran war in Saudi Arabia, Easter lull and thin domestic fixtures in Australia — but the pattern dominates the decliner board.

Africa 

African countries carried the gainer list decisively, with the continent contributing the four largest volume gains on the board. Beyond the top five, Chad, Guinea, Zimbabwe, Republic of the Congo, and Ghana all posted mid-teens gains on the same post-FIFA-break football restart. 

Next week watchlist

Colombia, Brazil, Argentina 

Copa Libertadores group stage kickoff The tournament opens April 7–9 with matches across all eight groups. Expect gainer-side pressure on all four Colombian host markets and continued momentum in Brazilian and Argentine markets through the opening round.

United States 

NCAA championship game tailwind The Michigan–UConn men’s final on April 6 closes March Madness on the first day of the next reporting week. US state-level movements should skew positive on the day but compress immediately afterward as the college basketball calendar ends.

Cambodia, Nepal

Both markets face a second full week under enforcement regimes that show no signs of easing. Watch for whether Cambodia stabilizes at a new lower baseline or continues declining as further license revocations land.

Methodology note

Blask Index tracks real-time iGaming player interest via AI-analyzed Google search data, updated hourly and filtered to remove low-intent noise (scams, complaints). WoW% measures momentum: positive indicates growing attention; negative indicates declining attention.