iGaming market weekly report | July 20–26, 2026

A broad post-World Cup downtrend set the tone: the tournament closed July 19 and major domestic football leagues have not yet restarted, so acquisition intent compressed across many markets without a replacement fixture calendar.

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Top gainers

Netherlands +23.5%

Club football supplied the hook: Ajax opened its competitive season with a 4–1 away win over Vojvodina on July 23 in UEFA Conference League second-round qualifying — Míchel Sánchez’s official debut as head coach. The result lifted Index momentum in a week when the World Cup hangover otherwise dominated European search.

Angola +13.9%

After the prior week’s –23.4% decline, Angola mean-reverted as the Gaming Supervision Institute pressed the formalisation agenda.

Context: on July 16, ISJ presented a phased regularisation plan for social gaming intermediaries — fixed premises only, 1,000-metre distance rules, transition through December 14. This news kept licensing and compliance chatter inside the Index window.

Venezuela +9.2%

Сontinental club football returned to the search tape. Universidad Central hosted Santos in the Copa Sudamericana knockout playoff first leg on July 21 in Valencia (relocated after the June earthquakes), falling 4–1. The fixture triggered acquisition intent around Venezuelan sides still alive in CONMEBOL competition.

Switzerland +9.0%

Lottery calendar supplied the in-window hook. Loterie Romande confirmed CHF 13.8M ($17M) rolled into the next Wednesday draw, which lifted the iGaming interest in the country.

Tunisia +8.6%

Domestic club calendar effect: Espérance Sportive de Tunis opened preseason friendlies during its Aïn Draham camp, beating ES Khémir 2–0 on July 24. The Sang et Or schedule kept football-linked search active in an otherwise quiet Maghreb window.

Top decliners

Singapore –58.3%

The World Cup closed July 19; on July 25 police confirmed that intensified operations from May 1 through July 20 produced 60 arrests or investigations, 600-plus site/app blocks, and more than S$600,000 (US$465,122) in denied gambling-linked transactions. With tournament gravity gone and enforcement still visible, Index compressed hard.

Panama –41.5%

The Blask Index decline tracks the end of the FIFA World Cup on July 19: with no major domestic league calendar filling the gap, acquisition intent compressed.

Slovenia –39.8%

There is the same World Cup hangover: tournament gravity expired July 19 and major European leagues have not yet restarted, so Index fell without a replacement football hook of equal scale.

Peru –38.9%

There are two reasons why iGaming interest dropped in Peru. The first one is that the World Cup expiry set the base decline. On top of that, active suppression deepened the print. And the second reason is regulatory enforcement. On July 21, Mincetur (local regulator) blocked 36 unlicensed remote gaming and sports-betting platforms under Law No. 31557, and seized 39 illegal slot machines across Lima, Lambayeque, and Piura.

Mali –36.8%

On July 22, authorities suspended BET 223, Premier Bet, and 1xBet over a fiscal dispute. Supply-side friction is on the top of the broader post-World Cup downtrend.

Market spotlight: Singapore | –58.3%

The post-final vacuum after July 19 met a mid-week enforcement dump. Police’s July 25 readout closed the broader World Cup suppression window (May 1–July 20): 60 arrests or investigations, 600-plus site/app blocks, and more than S$600,000 (US$465,122) in denied gambling-linked bank transfers. Separately, a July 22–24 islandwide sweep netted nine GemBet-linked arrests and froze over S$39,000 (US$30,234) in suspected proceeds from shell-company payment rails.

That combination — tournament hangover plus a public enforcement tally — is a suppression layer on top of an expired sports hook.

Regional snapshot

Europe

The regional soft patch is mainly the World Cup hangover: the final closed July 19 and major domestic leagues have not restarted, so Blask Index compressed across Central and Eastern Europe (Lithuania –36.2%, Hungary –34.3%, Slovenia –39.8%). Netherlands (+23.5%) and Switzerland (+9.0%) led the green board on Ajax’s Conference League qualifier and Swiss Loto calendar. Italy (+5.0%) sat just outside the top-five gainers with a steadier mid-single-digit lift.

Asia-Pacific

The region owned the deepest WoW cuts. Singapore’s –58.3% led on World Cup expiry plus the July 25 enforcement tally. Cambodia’s –32.1% extended the soft APAC tape without a shared in-window catalyst. Philippines (+7.6%, +2.3 million absolute) was the clearest regional counterweight on volume, though it missed the top-five WoW% cut.

Africa

Continental downside also tracks World Cup expiry without a replacement league calendar of equal scale — Mali’s –36.8% was the clearest African print on that hangover, compounded by the July 22 operator suspensions. Angola’s +13.9% bounce after the prior week’s –23.4% print and Tunisia’s +8.6% on Espérance preseason held the upside. Mozambique (+5.4%) added a quieter continental lift outside the top five.

Next week watchlist

The July 27–August 2 window lacks major sports catalysts of World Cup scale. Top European leagues remain in preseason, and no global tournament resets the calendar, so direction is hard to call. Blask will watch whether Index keeps mean-reverting from the post-final hangover or stabilises as local club fixtures (Conference League returns, CONMEBOL knockouts, domestic friendlies) slowly refill the search tape.

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.