Top gainers

1. Ethiopia +18.3% — No clear country-specific trigger surfaced. The gain reads as a technical bounce after the prior week’s –16.5% decline.
2. South Korea +13.9% — Winter Olympics final week drove peak national sports attention: short track delivered a Korean 1-2 finish in the women’s 1500m, plus women’s relay gold. The Seollal (Lunar New Year) holiday break (Feb 16–18) likely amplified online engagement during peak Olympic coverage.
3. Malaysia +13.9% — Malaysia Super League resumed with a full matchday across Feb 21–22 (six fixtures including JDT’s 6-1 rout of Sabah), lifting domestic football attention after a three-week break.
4. Czech Republic +12.3% — Czechia rode Olympics ice hockey knockout coverage, including Canada’s overtime win over the Czech Republic in the men’s quarter-final on Feb 18. National attention peaked around the elimination match despite the loss. 
5. Azerbaijan +10.3% — Qarabağ hosted Newcastle in a historic UEFA Champions League playoff first leg on Feb 18 — the first time an Azerbaijani club reached the Champions League knockout phase. Despite a 1-6 loss, the home fixture in Baku concentrated national football and betting attention around the event.

Top decliners

1. India –46.2% — Mean-reversion after the massive T20 World Cup group-stage spike. India’s group matches (incl. the India–Pakistan blockbuster on Feb 15) concluded by Feb 19, and the transition to Super Eights brought fewer India fixtures during the reporting week. The sharp decline reflects a natural cooldown from the prior week’s +42.5% surge rather than any structural change.
2. Sri Lanka –23.3% — Same T20 World Cup cycle: Sri Lanka’s group-stage matches wrapped up by Feb 19–20 (including a shock loss to Zimbabwe on Feb 19), with the Super Eights not beginning until Feb 21–22. The gap between stages reduced concentrated search activity relative to the prior week’s +73.0% spike driven by consecutive group fixtures.
3. Romania –21.5% — Romania’s Senate approved two gambling-restriction bills on Feb 16: raising the minimum gambling age from 18 to 21 and banning online gambling advertising between 06:00–00:00, including a prohibition on celebrity and influencer endorsements. Cross-party support signals strong political momentum; bills now proceed to the Chamber of Deputies.
4. Turkey –16.4% — Seventh consecutive report appearance. MASAK’s expanded enforcement continues: Finance Minister Şimşek declared that proxy bank accounts facilitating illegal gambling would be eradicated. Active suppression sustained.
5. Singapore –15.5% — No clear country-specific trigger surfaced inside the window.

Market spotlight: India | –46.2%

India printed the week’s steepest move in either direction, sliding –46.2% WoW as the T20 World Cup transitioned from group stage to Super Eights. The prior week’s +42.5% was inflated by a dense cluster of group fixtures — most notably the India–Pakistan blockbuster on Feb 15. By Feb 16–19, India’s group matches were complete, and the Super Eights didn’t deliver an India fixture until Feb 22, creating a five-day attention gap the Index registered as a sharp cooldown.

The decline reflects tournament mechanics rather than weakening market interest. The group stage packed multiple India matches into a compressed window across Indian venues, each generating standalone search spikes. The Super Eights spread fixtures more thinly and shifted some action to Sri Lankan venues. When India finally played South Africa on Feb 22, they suffered a 76-run defeat — a result that generates a short-lived search pulse but not sustained acquisition intent, particularly since it introduced uncertainty about India’s progression.

The Super Eights correction shows that Indian cricket intent is fixture-clustered, not tournament-sustained. The next spike window sits around India’s remaining Super Eight match (Feb 26 vs. Zimbabwe) and, if India advances, the semifinals on Mar 4–5.

Regional snapshot

Europe

Europe was the cleanest “event gravity” region: Czech Republic (+12.3%) benefited from Olympics hockey knockout intensity, while Austria (+8.3%) and Italy (+5.8%) held up on sustained Games coverage. Romania (–21.5%) broke the pattern with a genuine policy decliner — Senate-approved gambling restriction bills introduced structural friction. Azerbaijan (+10.3%) spiked on Qarabağ’s historic Champions League knockout fixture.

Asia-Pacific

The T20 World Cup dominated the region’s dynamics on both sides: India (–46.2%) and Sri Lanka (–23.3%) both corrected sharply after the prior week’s group-stage spikes. South Korea (+13.9%) provided a counterweight as Winter Olympics drove peak national sports attention, while Malaysia (+13.9%) bounced back on the Malaysia Super League’s return from a three-week break.

Africa

Ethiopia (+18.3%) led the continent but the gain reads as a technical bounce after the prior week’s –16.5% rather than a response to any specific trigger. On the downside, Namibia (–13.3%), Sierra Leone (–11.1%), and Senegal (–10.2%) drifted lower without identifiable catalysts — consistent with small-base volatility where minor absolute changes produce outsized percentage swings.

Next week watchlist

Europe — Post-Olympics mean-reversion

The Milano–Cortina Games closed on Feb 23, removing the continent’s sports attention anchor. Markets that spiked on Olympic medal cycles should correct as the calendar empties. 

Malaysia — Super League momentum and regulatory noise

The Malaysia Super League is now back in weekly rhythm after its three-week break, and the domestic football calendar stays dense through March. Separately, Malaysia’s draft gambling bill continues to generate headlines; if parliamentary scheduling or ministerial statements surface, policy-driven search activity could layer on top of the sports-led baseline.

Turkey — Eighth consecutive suppression week

MASAK enforcement shows no signs of easing: the €470m crypto seizure and proxy-account crackdown from this week set the tone. If new detentions or payment-channel restrictions surface, Turkey’s downward streak will extend into its eighth consecutive report appearance.

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.

Week’s headline

Cricket tournament gravity set the tone. The live ICC Men’s T20 World Cup created a clean upside axis, with Sri Lanka (+73%) and India (+42.5%) leading the board as match-driven national attention concentrated during the week’s fixtures.

Turkey (–21.3%) appeared again as an enforcement-led market: ongoing pressure on offshore gambling continues to compress demand, keeping the country in the digest for a sixth straight week on the way down rather than on a calendar bounce.

Europe, meanwhile, showed a separate event cycle. A group of markets moved higher on Milano–Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics coverage, with Czech Republic (+18.9%) and Poland (+16.1%) among the clearest winners.

Top gainers

1. Sri Lanka +73% — The national cricket team’s ICC T20 World Cup campaign drove the spike, with Sri Lanka beating Oman on February 12. The win concentrated national sports attention and lifted iGaming search activity sharply off a low base.
2. India +42.5% — The Feb 15 T20 India–Pakistan match was the week’s clearest single-event catalyst. India’s win amplified coverage well beyond the subcontinent, and the rivalry’s outsized media footprint kept search activity elevated through the weekend.
3. Singapore +30.4% — A technical bounce after last week’s decline, with search activity mean-reverting toward baseline. No specific event or policy trigger surfaced during the period — the move reads as natural recovery from a prior dip rather than new demand.
4. Czech Republic +18.9% — The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan–Cortina drove a concentrated spike in national sports attention. The country won four medals during the period, while the men’s ice hockey team played three group-stage matches between Feb 12–15.
5. Poland +16.1% — The Winter Olympics lifted national sports attention, with Polish athletes competing across multiple disciplines throughout the week. Ski jumper Kacper Tomasiak’s bronze on the normal hill (Feb 14) and speed skater Vladimir Semirunniy’s silver in the 10,000 m (Feb 13) kept Poland visible in Olympic coverage

Top decliners

1. Ireland –24.1% — Despite Six Nations Round 2 on Feb 14, the broader market still faded, which points to mean-reversion outside the rugby spike (i.e., one tentpole wasn’t enough to hold the whole baseline).
2. Turkey –21.3% — Active suppression, sixth consecutive report where Turkey appears in the digest. The government’s campaign against offshore gambling escalated further: MASAK (Financial crimes investigation board) gained expanded powers over financial operations, while state banks removed direct iGaming deposit sections from digital banking channels.
3. Austria –17.6% — Despite strong Austrian medal performances at the Winter Olympics (12 medals including 4 golds by Feb 15), Blask Index still declined. The drop likely reflects mean-reversion from the prior week’s elevated baseline rather than any suppression signal.
4. Ethiopia –16.5% — No clear country-specific trigger surfaced during Feb 9–15. 
5. El Salvador –16.0% — No clear country-specific trigger surfaced during Feb 9–15. 

Market spotlight: Sri Lanka | +73%

Sri Lanka printed the week’s biggest move at +73% WoW. This is best framed as an event-led spike, not a structural shift, because the uplift sits inside an active ICC Men’s T20 World Cup week and materially outpaced most markets.

Sri Lanka’s national team is actively participating in the tournament, and cricket is a mass-market sport domestically, so World Cup matchdays tend to pull disproportionate national attention. During Feb 9–15, Sri Lanka also had in-week World Cup action — the ICC match report on their Feb 12 game vs Oman covered the result and reinforces that the market was inside live tournament cadence.

Regional snapshot

Europe

Europe moved as a single Olympics-led cluster: Czech Republic (+18.9%), Poland (+16.1%), and Slovakia (+13%) all lifted on the same winter-sports headline cycle tied to Milano Cortina 2026. The Games schedule confirmed the in-window Olympics timing (Feb 6–22, 2026), supporting a shared “event gravity” driver rather than three separate local catalysts.

Asia-Pacific

Asia-Pacific was cricket-led. Sri Lanka (+73.0%) and India (+42.5%) rose in line with the live ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cycle during Feb 9–15: Sri Lanka had in-week tournament action, and India peaked into the India–Pakistan match on Feb 15. 

Next week watchlist

India 

T20 World Cup continues, India vs Netherlands on Feb 18. Expect another cricket-led uplift as the tournament remains live and India stays in the spotlight heading into a scheduled matchday. 

Sri Lanka 

T20 World Cup schedules: Sri Lanka vs Australia on Feb 16 and Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe on Feb 19. Two in-week matchdays keep Sri Lanka inside the tournament headline cycle, which typically sustains above-baseline attention during active weeks. 

Turkey 

Enforcement actions against offshore/illegal gambling remain active. With the crackdown narrative still producing fresh touchpoints, Turkey is set up to appear in the digest for a 7th straight week as a suppression-layer market rather than a calendar-driven one.

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.

Week’s headline

Event gravity dominated the tape, with upside concentrated in football-driven Africa and the first clear Olympics-linked lift in Europe. Tanzania (+18.8%) and a wider African cluster (Congo +14.6%, Chad +13.7%, Uganda +13.7%) moved in sync as CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup Matchday 5 (Feb 6–8) kept continental fixtures in the weekly newsflow, while Uganda also had domestic cup action on Feb 6 that added local football attention. In Europe, Austria (+15.7%) was the only market to show a clean early-cycle uptick tied to the Milano Cortina 2026 opening (Feb 6), suggesting the Olympics impulse has started but hasn’t yet broadened across other winter-elastic countries.

The downside was narrower and more headline-sensitive. Turkey (–31.3%) repriced on a crackdown week, with illegal-betting enforcement and crypto-linked asset-freeze headlines dominating Feb 2–8 and pushing the market into a clearly risk-off posture. Panama (–22.1%) was the opposite type of move: a mechanical pullback after last week’s lottery-driven spike, fading once the monthly draw cleared the immediate newsflow.

Asia-Pacific printed heavy declines without clean attribution in this pass. Myanmar (–30.1%) and Singapore (–24.8%) both sold off sharply, but no market-specific public triggers were identified inside the Feb 2–8 window.

Top gainers

1. Tanzania +18.8% — Simba SC (Tanzania) played Petro de Luanda in the CAF Champions League on Feb 7 (Group D), keeping Tanzanian football in the continental matchday newsflow during the week.
2. Austria +15.7% — The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics opened on Feb 6. Austria has long-standing winter-sports traditions and consistently strong performance across alpine and other snow disciplines, keeping national attention tightly coupled to the Games’ opening-week news cycle.
3. Republic of the Congo +14.6% — AS Otohô played Stellenbosch FC on Feb 8 in CAF Confederation Cup Group D, keeping Congolese football in the continental matchday newsflow during this decisive week.
4. Chad +13.7% — CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup matchdays drove pan-African betting engagement as the decisive final group stage round determined quarterfinal qualification across the continent. 
5. Uganda +13.7% — Uganda’s Stanbic Uganda Cup Round of 64 matches on Feb 6 (including Police FC 3-0 Mairye), combined with the Feb 7-8 CAF club competition matchdays that engage football fans continent-wide, drove betting activity as Uganda’s domestic cup winner earns CAF Confederation Cup qualification. 

Top decliners

1. Turkey –31.3% — The decline coincided with high-visibility illegal-betting enforcement and crypto-linked asset-freeze headlines during Feb 2–8, keeping the market under an active crackdown narrative across the window.
2. Myanmar –30.1% — No clear triggers identified for the decline during Feb 2-8 week.
3. Singapore –24.8% — No clear triggers identified for the decline during Feb 2-8 week.
4. Guinea –23.5% — No clear triggers identified for the decline during Feb 2-8 week.
5. Panama –22.1% — A straightforward pullback after last week’s lottery-driven spike. With the nationally shared monthly draw no longer in the immediate newsflow, attention mean-reverted toward baseline across Feb 2–8.

Market spotlight: Turkey | –31.3%

Turkey printed the week’s steepest downside move, sliding –31.3% WoW as enforcement narratives dominated the market’s public tape throughout Feb 2–8. The drop fits a familiar Turkey profile: when a crackdown becomes the headline frame, betting-related search activity typically compresses and volatility increases within the week.

The mechanism was unusually concrete. In-week reporting described a crypto-linked asset-freeze track tied to alleged illegal betting networks. Coverage included Tether freezing more than $500M at authorities’ request, with the enforcement push expanding throughout the window.

Turkey is also a structurally volatile market in this dataset: this is the fifth consecutive week it has appeared in our digest, reinforcing how quickly the country’s demand signal can swing when the headline tape turns.

Regional snapshot

Europe 

For now, Austria is the only market showing a clearly visible lift tied to the Winter Olympics. The Games only opened on Feb 6, so this is still the early phase of the cycle — other winter-elastic European markets can still catch up as the competition schedule and headline density build.

Africa 

Across Tanzania, Republic of the Congo, Chad, and Uganda, the upside week landed while two CAF club tournaments are in an active, decisive group-stage phase. CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup — Matchday 5 ran Feb 6–8, with qualification pressure rising ahead of the final round.

Asia-Pacific 

Myanmar and Singapore both moved sharply lower this week, but no clear, market-specific public trigger surfaced inside the Feb 2–8 window in this pass.

Next week watchlist

Austria 

Olympics first-week momentum. The event gravity remains live as medal narratives compound. Winter-sports elastic markets typically hold an elevated baseline through the first dense competition block, then taper. Expect 

Turkey 

Volatility carryover. Country has appeared in our digest for five consecutive weeks, reinforcing how quickly its demand signal can swing. Expect another high-variance week as the market remains headline-sensitive.

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.

Week’s headline

Week 5 split cleanly between headline-driven repricing and calendar-led flow. The upside concentrated where mainstream narratives widened discovery: Singapore’s earnings news cycle pulled casual attention into casino-adjacent searches, Panama’s lottery moment lifted broad gambling curiosity, and Turkey’s enforcement headlines drove substitution browsing around access and funding routes.

The rest of the winners were pure sports density. Botswana’s packed matchday and Zimbabwe’s U-19 World Cup coverage translated broadcasts into short, high-intensity bursts of odds-adjacent intent and operator comparison behavior.

The downside was defined by missing hooks and policy salience. Czech Republic and Bulgaria moved lower without a clear in-window trigger. Poland softened under elevated compliance risk, while Bangladesh mean-reverted after the BPL cycle ended and Finland’s reform framing shifted attention from play to policy, muting acquisition intent.

Top gainers

1. Singapore +40.1% — Corporate headline gravity did the work. Marina Bay Sands’ record quarter and earnings coverage spotlit the flagship asset, pulling mainstream attention into casino-adjacent queries.
2. Panama +37.3% — The nationally shared monthly lottery draw drove a sharp increase in gambling-related search activity, lifting overall market attention. Elevated interest typically translates into more operator and bonus comparisons, as audiences shift from checking results to exploring available gambling options and platforms.
3. Turkey +32.2% — authorities continue its crackdown on illegal gambling: police raided a network accused of laundering funds for illegal bookmakers. This time, the market printed positive WoW momentum, reversing the prior week’s softness.
4. Botswana +28.6% — Domestic Premier League matchday intensity peaked on Jan 31 with multiple fixtures landing the same day, which typically concentrates weekend sports attention and lifts odds-adjacent browsing into operator comparisons.
5. Zimbabwe +24.3% — U-19 World Cup Super Six coverage dismantled Zimbabwe in mainstream cricket headlines, a classic “event gravity → odds browsing” funnel. Tournament match density tends to create short, high-intensity spikes in operator comparison and promo searches.

Top decliners

1. Czech Republic –11.9% — No clear country-specific trigger surfaced during Jan 26–Feb 1. 
2. Poland –11.9% — Policy and compliance headlines raised perceived risk. Reports on moves to strengthen criminal penalties around gambling-related offences typically dampen affiliate activity and shift consumer interest toward legality and safety checks.
3. Bulgaria –11.8% — No clear country-specific trigger surfaced during Jan 26–Feb 1. 
4. Bangladesh –7.3% — The Bangladesh Premier League ended on Jan 23, removing a dense stream of match-day betting moments. With no comparable national sports anchor inside Week 5, tournament-led attention washed out and operator/bonus browsing reverted to baseline. 
5. Finland –6.6% — Institutional reform noise cooled the funnel. The government announcement on adding licence fees for gambling services formalized the regulatory frame. These stories shift attention from play to policy and often compress promotional aggression in the short cycle.

Market spotlight: Singapore | +40.1%

Singapore printed the week’s cleanest outlier move, jumping +40.1% WoW in a mature, tightly controlled gambling environment where organic swings are usually small. The lift aligned with a concentrated corporate news burst around Marina Bay Sands’ record quarter, which kept the integrated resort in mainstream business coverage and extended the headline half-life beyond a single earnings print.

Mechanically, this is earnings-headline demand rather than a sports calendar effect. When a jurisdiction’s flagship casino becomes a business-desk story, casual users who wouldn’t normally search operators get pulled into adjacent queries. That attention then leaks downstream into classic acquisition behavior — offer comparison, operator discovery, and “where to play” browsing — because the newsflow normalizes gambling as part of the broader entertainment/IR narrative.

Regional snapshot

Europe

CEE stayed risk-off, with Poland (–11.9%), Czech Republic (–11.9%), and Bulgaria (–11.8%) sliding in a tight band while Finland (–6.6%) added drag. Hungary (+20.8%) broke the pattern as Men’s EHF EURO matchdays concentrated national sports attention, lifting odds-adjacent discovery even as the rest of the region cooled.

Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa skewed risk-on as a cluster, with Botswana (+28.6%), Zimbabwe (+24.3%), and South Africa (+20.0%) moving together. The pattern reads like synchronized sports-and-promo uplift: broad discovery flows improved across multiple markets, even where no clean country-specific catalyst dominated the public tape.

Next week watchlist

United States

Super Bowl week buildup should lift bookmaker activity. As coverage intensifies and bettors start comparing lines and promos, odds-adjacent browsing typically translates into an operator shopping.

Turkey

Post-enforcement volatility. If payment/access rails tighten further, substitution searches can stay elevated, but conversion quality deteriorates under friction. 

Singapore

Earnings afterglow comedown. Without fresh follow-through, Week 5’s corporate-news lift should mean-revert as business coverage cycles out and casual attention reallocates. 

Nordic countries

Milano Cortina 2026 opening (Feb 6) should lift winter-sports markets. As prime-time broadcasts and medal storylines ramp up, winter nations often see a short-term spike in odds-adjacent browsing.

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.

Week’s headline

Event-driven demand dominated the tape, with upside concentrated in European calendar effects and downside shaped by suppression and post-event decay. Austria (+17.7%) led Europe on Kitzbühel’s Hahnenkamm weekend, while Sweden (+9.9%) and Norway (+8.5%) moved as a Nordic pair on EHF EURO main-round matchday density. Uganda (+46.5%) printed the biggest number, but it was a normalization bounce after last week’s election-linked connectivity disruption pushed acquisition intent below baseline.

The winners were clean mechanism markets: Austria’s Alpine attention funnel, Nordic tournament timing, and Colombia (+12.6%) on football-final intensity driving short-burst odds browsing and operator shopping. The Netherlands (+9.4%) was the structural outlier — illegal-market leakage narratives amplified regulated-vs-offshore comparison behavior and lifted acquisition intent without a sports anchor.

Losers split into three buckets. Turkey (–23.3%) was suppression-led, consistent with enforcement-driven access and payment friction. Switzerland (–18.6%), Morocco (–18.1%), and Montenegro (–21.8%) were event hangovers as attention rotated off prior peaks. Belgium (–12.7%) and Nepal (–35.8%) extended second-week declines with no visible external catalyst.

Top gainers

1. Uganda +46.5% — A normalization bounce. Last week’s election-linked connectivity disruption compressed acquisition intent. During Jan 19–25, access stabilized and operator search activity reverted toward baseline, unwinding the prior drop rather than printing a durable expansion.
2. Austria +17.7% — A textbook event gravity candle. Hahnenkamm weekend in Kitzbühel (Jan 23–25) concentrated mainstream attention into a three-day acquisition funnel. Reuters coverage amplified the mainstream signal as the weekend opened on Jan 23, sustaining odds-adjacent intent through Sunday. 
3. Azerbaijan +15.4% — the Azerbaijan Premier League matchweek kicked off on Jan 23, restoring a regular matchday rhythm that reliably converts into odds browsing and operator comparisons. For a mid-size market, league restart weeks tend to print outsized WoW volatility because baseline discovery is thinner and fixture-timed intent shows up fast.
4. Colombia +12.6% — The Superliga BetPlay title match delivered the cleanest LATAM sports trigger of the week. A high-salience final concentrates casual fan attention, then converts into promo hunting and operator shopping within hours of the result. Independiente Santa Fe was crowned champions on Jan 21.
5. Paraguay +12.0% — the Torneo Apertura kicked off on Jan 23, reopening weekly matchday rhythms that reliably convert into odds browsing and operator comparison. With the season starting earlier than usual ahead of the 2026 World Cup, fixture-timed discovery flows re-activated fast, which can print outsized WoW swings in a mid-size market.

Top decliners

1. Nepal –35.8% — The market declined for a second consecutive week, with no visible external trigger.
2. Turkey –23.3% — A major Istanbul illegal-betting operation enforcement shock disrupted payments and access, compressing the deposit funnel that drives casual discovery. Roughly 3bn TRY was reportedly seized on Jan 20, a high-friction catalyst that typically maps to short-term demand compression.
3. Montenegro –21.8% — The drop tracks a tournament-exit fade. Switzerland’s win on Jan 20 in EHF EURO 2026 effectively ended Montenegro’s main-round path, removing the national-team “event gravity” that sustains short-burst sportsbook browsing. As a small base market, Montenegro is structurally volatile — even single-match outcomes can swing acquisition intent sharply week to week.
4. Switzerland –18.6% — Event hangover with attention rotation: Wengen’s Lauberhorn races ran Jan 16–18, then the Alpine narrative shifted into Austria’s Kitzbühel weekend, leaving Switzerland without an equivalent domestic hook inside Jan 19–25. 
5. Morocco –18.1% — A clean post-AFCON hangover. The tournament hosting cycle ended on Jan 18, and with no follow-on domestic sports hook inside Jan 19–25, acquisition intent mean-reverted toward baseline. The AFCON final fallout kept headlines alive on Jan 19, but attention shifted from matchday betting intensity to post-mortem coverage, so discovery flows cooled rather than sustained.

Market spotlight: Uganda | +46.5%

Uganda posted the week’s largest upside move at +46.5% WoW, but the profile was normalization, not breakout growth. The prior week was distorted by election-linked connectivity disruption, which compressed acquisition intent and mechanically suppressed discovery flows. Once the disruption cleared, the market snapped back.

During Jan 19–25, access stabilized and operator search activity reverted toward baseline, effectively unwinding the previous week’s drawdown. The shape of the move matters: it reads as a rebound from an artificially low starting point rather than fresh demand creation.

Regional snapshot

Europe

Europe was dominated by event gravity winners and post-event losers. Austria (+17.7%) and Sweden (+9.9%) were clean schedule-driven upsides, while Switzerland (–18.6%) was classic Alpine hangover as Wengen cleared and attention rotated into Kitzbühel.

Middle East

Turkey (–23.3%) drove the region’s risk tone via enforcement-led suppression, where payment/access disruption compresses discovery flows fast. Azerbaijan (+15.4%) sat on the opposite side of the tape, but without a single dominant in-window public catalyst it should be treated as a momentum print rather than a proven story.

Africa

Uganda (+46.5%) was the region’s standout move, but it read as a normalization bounce after last week’s election-linked connectivity disruption suppressed discovery flows. Morocco (–18.1%) showed a post-AFCON hangover as tournament-driven intent cleared and the market reverted toward baseline.

Asia-Pacific

Nepal (–35.8%) was the deepest downside move, but it lacked a clean public driver. Malaysia (–10.9%) followed a similar compression pattern, consistent with baseline cooling rather than a single event shock.

Next week watchlist

Austria — Post-Hahnenkamm comedown

Kitzbühel is a classic three-day funnel: once the weekend clears, acquisition intent usually mean-reverts unless another national sports anchor lands immediately. Expect a cooling pattern as the Alpine headline window moves on.

Sweden — Tournament persistence into knockout attention

EHF EURO 2026 remains live through Feb 1, and host-market intent tends to stay elevated when fixtures stay high-salience. If Sweden’s match schedule stays headline-dense, expect continued operator shopping on matchdays rather than a full reset.

Turkey — Enforcement aftershocks and payment friction

Post-operation weeks typically keep channels unstable: friction suppresses casual discovery, but fresh follow-up headlines can also spike curiosity. The base case is suppression persistence with intermittent volatility candles.

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.

Week’s headline

This week’s iGaming momentum split cleanly between structural policy re-pricing and headline-driven sports cycles. Colombia led the upside as the VAT base shift reset first-time economics and pulled users into operator comparisons, while Venezuela showed how quickly political-risk news can spill into betting-adjacent curiosity when prediction markets become a mainstream controversy.

In parallel, Switzerland, India, and Vietnam reinforced the calendar effect: Wengen’s Lauberhorn weekend, a live ODI decider in India, and ASEAN Cup 2026 scheduling updates all translated mainstream attention into short-burst odds browsing and fast operator shopping. These were classic “event gravity” markets — high-intensity, time-boxed discovery rather than durable demand expansion.

On the downside, Slovenia was the mirror image: an event hangover collapse once early-January winter sports momentum cleared, with no replacement hook inside the week. Uganda added a suppression layer — election-week disruption compressed casual discovery. Montenegro and El Salvador simply drifted lower in the absence of any new trigger.

Top gainers

1. Colombia +40.1% — The VAT base shift implemented on Jan 2 (from taxing player deposits to taxing GGR) effectively removed the upfront “deposit haircut” that had been suppressing acquisition intent. 
2. Venezuela +14.5% — Political-risk attention spiked after the Maduro capture story turned into a prediction-markets scandal. A Polymarket trader reportedly cleared ~$400,000 by betting Maduro would be out of office, and the timing triggered loud insider-trading scrutiny across mainstream media.
3. Switzerland +14.2% — Lauberhorn World Cup weekend at Wengen (Jan 16–18) concentrated mainstream Swiss sports attention. Marco Odermatt landed a record fourth straight Wengen downhill win on Jan 17, keeping the event in national headlines through Sunday’s slalom finale. 
4. India +9.2% — India–New Zealand ODI series kept cricket attention pinned through the week. Rajkot’s 2nd ODI (Jan 14) set up a live decider, then Indore’s finale (Jan 18) delivered a series-clinching result and headline performances. 
5. Vietnam +7.7% — ASEAN Cup 2026 scheduling newsflow restarted national-team attention midweek. The official draw in Jakarta (Jan 15) confirmed Vietnam’s Group A slate, and the finalized group-stage match schedule (Jan 16) put exact dates on Vietnam’s title-defense path.

Top decliners

1. Slovenia –61.8% — Week 2’s ski-led attention fully mean-reverted once Kranjska Gora (Jan 3–4) cleared the cycle. With no comparable cause inside Jan 12–18, brand-search volume reverted to baseline and discovery flows thinned fast, as Slovenia’s next major winter hooks (Rogla snowboard Jan 31; Ljubno ski jumping Feb 10–11) sit outside the week.
2. Uganda –34.4% — Election-week disruption hit the acquisition funnel. Internet shutdowns and service restrictions (starting Jan 13) compressed casual browsing windows, while vote-day tension shifted attention from “entertainment intent” to verification/news intent. 
3. Nepal –33.9% — No clear in-week trigger emerged during Jan 12–18, so the drop looks like post-shock inertia. The best fit remains the early-January risk narrative: the central bank/FIU Strategic Analysis Report flagged hundreds of suspicious virtual-asset transactions over five years, explicitly linking crypto activity to online gambling. 
4. Montenegro –32.5% — No clear country-specific trigger surfaced during Jan 12–18. 
5. El Salvador –30.1% — No clear country-specific trigger surfaced during Jan 12–18.

Market spotlight: Slovenia | –61.8%

Slovenia printed the week’s steepest downside move, sliding –61.8% WoW as the early-January winter-sports halo fully washed out. The prior period was artificially inflated by a dense Alpine headline window, but Jan 12–18 delivered no equivalent national hook. The market reverted hard once the “sports anchor” moved on.

Week 2’s lift was driven by event-led, odds-adjacent intent. People searching around broadcasts, results, and standout performances — behavior that reliably converts into short, high-intensity sportsbook browsing. The downside is structural fragility: when the narrative ends, discovery drops. Slovenia lost demand not because sentiment turned negative, but because the reason to search disappeared.

This is a classic event hangover: a market that trades on calendar moments, not persistent casino browsing depth. Without a fresh local headline to pin attention, users stop exploring brands, operator shopping compresses, and acquisition traffic thins back to baseline. The next meaningful rebound typically requires another high-signal sports moment — otherwise the channel stays quiet and spend efficiency deteriorates quickly.

Regional snapshot

Europe

Europe split cleanly into event gravity winners and post-event losers, with Switzerland up (+14.2%) and Slovenia down (–61.8%) on the same winter-sports calendar mechanics. Spain’s decline (–21.2%) fits a familiar pattern: cup headlines didn’t replace the prior week’s peak-intent density, so casual acquisition cooled. Belgium (–27.6%) and Montenegro (–32.5%) stayed weak, reinforcing that mid-size markets can drop quickly when the attention engine shifts elsewhere.

More on European trends: Spain, Germany, France, and 7 other markets — in our new Europe’s iGaming pulse report.

Middle East

Regional attention was muted in the dataset, but the calendar still matters. Saudi-hosted Supercopa visibility ended just before the window, while local football continues to generate routine betting intent. With fewer “single-event shocks”, performance tends to be driven by ongoing league cadence and offer competitiveness rather than headlines. The region is therefore less spiky, but it punishes slow funnel execution because intent is steady and competitive. 

Africa

Africa printed two opposing engines: Senegal gained (+6.7%) on the AFCON climax, while Uganda collapsed under enforcement-linked friction and operator disruption. Kenya (+7.3%) and Tanzania (+7%) rose modestly, consistent with spillover from continental football attention rather than a single local trigger. 

Asia-Pacific

India (+9.2%) and Vietnam (+7.7%) outperformed on national-team scheduling/newsflow, showing textbook sports-calendar lift with large-base follow-through. Nepal’s decline (–33.9%) is the opposite pattern: a sharp drop without a clean public trigger, consistent with friction narratives or access risk compressing casual discovery. The region is therefore not “up or down” — it’s event-led dispersion.

Next week watchlist

Switzerland — Post-Lauberhorn comedown

Switzerland should cool as Lauberhorn/Wengen weekend attention clears and ski-driven discovery mean-reverts. The prior spike was race-day, headline-led intent that typically converts into short bursts of odds browsing, not durable brand interest. 

Senegal — Post-AFCON final normalization

Senegal is likely to normalize after peak AFCON matchweek intensity drops off. Once the live “score/streaming/lineups” cycle ends, casual betting curiosity fades and operator shopping compresses. 

Colombia — Operator re-pricing after tax change

Colombia stays sensitive to promo economics as operators react to the tax-base reset with offer and messaging adjustments. If bonuses and acquisition incentives scale, discovery can extend into deeper brand comparison rather than plateau. 

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.

Week’s headline

This week’s iGaming momentum was shaped by a clear divide between event-driven attention and suppression forces tied to enforcement, regulation, and seasonality. Slovenia emerged as the standout growth market, where back-to-back events created sustained momentum across the reporting period.

At the opposite end, Laos and Denmark illustrated how quickly demand contracts when sporting narratives are replaced by fraud enforcement, compliance discourse, and winter fixture droughts. Across Southeast Asia and Northern Europe, these dynamics compressed casual, entertainment-led search behavior.

Turkey and Egypt reinforced the broader pattern: football-centric attention continues to act as a powerful acquisition catalyst, while betting-related investigations and legality narratives increasingly influence how — and whether — users move from search into conversion. Together, sport visibility and enforcement salience functioned as the two primary levers driving week-on-week volatility in search-led iGaming interest.

Top gainers

1. Slovenia +113.5% — Residual attention from Kranjska Gora Alpine Ski tournament (Jan 3-4) carried into the reporting week, amplified by Ljubno Ski Jumping World Cup (Jan 9-11): national hero Nika Prevc swept both events at home (30th & 31st career wins), 8,500 fans in attendance, historic Prevc siblings milestone. Pre-Olympic fever compounding.
2. Turkey +34% — TFF betting probe dragged mainstream football attention into “illegal betting” narratives, expanding generic betting-term queries and accelerating short-cycle discovery behavior.
3. Saudi Arabia +24.9% — Spanish Super Cup (Supercopa de España) in Jeddah, El Clásico final: Barcelona 3-2 Real Madrid (Jan 11). Mbappé, Vinícius, Yamal, Lewandowski, Raphinha (brace) — global star power driving odds-adjacent search spike.
4. Egypt +19.7% — AFCON’s knockout-stage drama continued to concentrate user attention around matchdays, producing sharp, time-bound spikes in betting interest and accelerating engagement as elimination pressure raised stakes and attention levels.
5. Peru +10.4% — official draw for the Liga 1 2026 season generated pre-season buzz, betting market positioning on Universitario (defending champs), Alianza Lima, Sporting Cristal. Season starts Jan 30, fixture reveal typically triggers odds searches and futures betting activity.

Top decliners

1. Laos -35.9% — Regional scam-network crackdown spillover. Chen Zhi extradition (Cambodia → China, Jan 7) dominated headlines as “biggest cyber-scam kingpin arrest” — linked to Golden Triangle operations. Bangkok Post confirms Thailand coordinating with Laos on scam relocations + intelligence indicating operations shifting to Laos. Enforcement salience likely suppressing gambling-intent queries.
2. Denmark -32.3% — Danish Superliga winter break (early Dec – mid-Feb) — zero domestic league fixtures during Jan 5-11. Background regulatory noise: new advertising rules phased rollout began 2026 (whistle-to-whistle ban, under-25 restrictions). Combination of fixture drought + post-holiday regulatory reopening may explain shift toward compliance/news intent.
3. Singapore -32.2% — Storm Elli (Germany) + Storm Goretti (UK) triggered mass European football cancellations Jan 9-11. Singapore Pools announcements page flooded with abandonment/refund notices, including Bundesliga, Eredivisie, English EFL and FA Cup fixtures.
4. Netherlands -29.3% — Snow-driven fixture chaos delayed match certainty, removing the standard weekend discovery layer (fixtures → previews → odds) and compressing betting-driven search volume.
5. Bulgaria -29.2% — Drop reflects the January 1 regulatory reset: eurozone accession (mandatory dual pricing, payment system overhauls, enhanced AML integration) combined with a GGR tax hike from 20% to 25%. Search intent shifted from betting to compliance queries as operators navigate the transition — compounded by Parva Liga’s winter break eliminating domestic football content.

Market spotlight: Slovenia | +113.5%

Slovenia posted the week’s most explosive growth — more than doubling search intent as back-to-back FIS World Cup events transformed the Alpine nation into the center of global winter sports attention.

The surge began January 3–4 in Kranjska Gora, where the women’s Alpine Ski World Cup delivered a storybook upset. Switzerland’s Camille Rast dethroned Mikaela Shiffrin in the slalom, snapping the American’s dominance and generating headlines across European sports media. 

Four days later, the spotlight shifted to Ljubno ob Savinji for the women’s ski jumping World Cup (January 9–11), where Nika Prevc delivered a masterclass. The national hero won both individual competitions to claim her 30th and 31st career World Cup victories. The 8,500-strong crowd witnessed history: Nika and her brother Domen became the first siblings in ski jumping history to simultaneously lead the men’s and women’s overall World Cup standings.

The Prevc dynasty narrative adds another dimension: family storylines (Nika joins brothers Peter, Domen, and Cene on the World Cup circuit) cross over into mainstream media, pulling casual audiences toward betting markets they might otherwise ignore. With the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics now less than a month out, Slovenia’s January performance may preview sustained pre-Games interest in Alpine and Nordic disciplines.

Regional snapshot

Europe

Europe broadly softened during the week, underscoring how fragile betting-driven discovery becomes when fixture certainty breaks down. Slovenia’s outsized spike demonstrates that demand can still be “manufactured” by nationally resonant sporting moments, even during winter breaks, but this remains the exception rather than the rule.

Across Northern and Western Europe, weather-related postponements and winter league pauses continue to disrupt the standard discovery chain, pushing user intent toward administrative, news, and compliance-related queries.

Middle East

The primary global catalyst of the week — the Spanish Super Cup final in Jeddah — has now played out, and its short-cycle impact on search-driven betting interest is beginning to fade. However, the region is not entering a demand vacuum. Regular domestic league action resumes during the week, led by the Saudi Pro League. 

Local competition continues to generate steady baseline interest through recognizable star power and a consistent match calendar — most notably via figures such as Cristiano Ronaldo. Near term, this implies a shift from event-driven spikes to more stable, repeatable acquisition flows.

Africa

AFCON 2025 remains underway and continues to be the single most important driver of betting interest across the continent. The tournament still concentrates user attention around matchdays, producing synchronized surges in interest.

For operators, it remains the most predictable acquisition window, characterized by high mobile share and strong sensitivity to load speed, localized payments, and live betting availability.

Asia-Pacific

Asia-Pacific remains highly sensitive to enforcement and regulatory narratives, with Laos’ sharp decline illustrating how quickly acquisition collapses when headlines shift from sport to fraud, scams, and illegal gambling operations. 

Cross-border law enforcement activity continues to crowd out recreational betting intent, replacing it with risk-averse, informational search behavior.

Next week’s watchlist

Africa

AFCON 2025 enters its decisive phase, with only the semifinals and final remaining. Tournament momentum is now highly concentrated, amplifying national-level betting interest in countries still in contention — Morocco (host nation), Senegal, Egypt, and Nigeria.

In these markets, expect heightened pre-match and in-play activity driven by patriotic narratives, knockout pressure, and condensed match schedules. For operators, this creates short but extremely high-intent acquisition windows, with sharp spikes around lineups, goals, and live markets as national attention peaks.

Northern Europe

Severe winter conditions remain a material risk factor. Snowstorms Elli and Goretti continue to disrupt travel and infrastructure, increasing the probability of football postponements, abandoned fixtures, and reduced certainty across broader sports calendars.

The likely impact is further suppression of betting-driven discovery, as users shift from match-focused intent toward administrative updates, cancellations, and refund-related queries. Volatility should be expected to persist as long as fixture reliability remains compromised, with delayed rather than immediate rebounds once matches are rescheduled.

Turkey

Betting-related scrutiny remains in active circulation following the Turkish Football Federation’s decision to refer more than 200 coaches and agents as part of an ongoing betting investigation. The expanding scope of the probe keeps “illegal betting” narratives embedded in mainstream sports coverage, extending their lifecycle beyond a single news spike.

As a result, Turkey is likely to see continued elevated search interest around generic betting terms, legality questions, and football-adjacent odds queries. This environment typically inflates top-of-funnel traffic, but with mixed conversion quality as users oscillate between curiosity-driven discovery and news-only intent.