EndGame: Venetian Fine, Online Code For Marketing Make News

The U.S. sports betting world moves quickly and unpredictably in 2026. In order to properly take stock of it all, we offer InGame’s “EndGame,” an end-of-week compilation of the top storylines, some overlooked items, and all the other news bits from this past week that we found interesting.

NGC approves Venetian Bowyer fine

The Nevada Gaming Commission approved a $7.2 million fine Thursday that will be paid by The Venetian, which allowed bookmaker Matthew Bowyer to gamble there despite having knowledge that he was an illegal bookie. He has since been convicted and served prison time on gambling and money laundering charges. The Nevada Gaming Control Board recommended the fine this summer in announcing a settlement with The Venetian when issuing a four-count complaint.

As part of the penalty, The Venetian must implement a comprehensive anti-money laundering training program, name a person to oversee the company’s AML program, and undergo a suitability review with the NGCB.

The Venetian is the fifth major casino on the Las Vegas Strip to be fined by Nevada regulators in this case. Caesars Palace ($7.8 million), MGM Grand ($8.5 million), Resorts World ($10.5 million), and Wynn Las Vegas ($5.5 million) have already paid fines.

— Jill R. Dorson

The Nevada Gaming Commission approved a $7.2 mil stipulation for settlement against the Venetian in a vote of 3-0. The settlement stems over the casino's decision to allow Matt Bowyer to gamble heavily, without properly verifying his Sources of Funds. There were two abstentions.… pic.twitter.com/uygw20QfvJ
— Matt Rybaltowski (@MattRybaltowski) August 20, 2026

New online gambling RG code adopted

The commercial-led Responsible Online Gambling Association (ROGA) on Tuesday announced an updated marketing and advertising code that all of its members have adopted. The code includes guidelines around marketing to those of legal age; accuracy and transparency; and responsible gaming. ROGA has as members Bally’s, bet365, BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, FanDuel, Hard Rock Digital, and Penn Entertainment.

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Per a press release, below are the top guidelines:

Legal Age Protections: Marketing must avoid content designed to appeal to minors and run only on platforms where at least 75% of the audience is expected to be legal age or older and cannot appear on college campuses or feature underage collegiate athlete endorsements.

Message Content Standards: Marketing must accurately represent odds and outcomes, clearly disclose promotional terms, and avoid language — including “risk-free” claims — that frames gaming as a financial strategy rather than entertainment.

Digital Marketing Requirements: Influencer partnerships must involve only individuals of legal age, clearly disclose paid relationships, and adhere to member-established responsible gaming marketing guidelines.

Responsible Gaming Commitments: Members must provide responsible gaming resources, give customers the ability to restrict or revoke their own access, and refrain from targeting individuals identified for responsible gaming concerns.

— Jill R. Dorson

Fanatics, NFL have a new partnership

Fanatics Betting & Gaming on Tuesday announced a non-exclusive agreement with the NFL to become an official sportsbook and online casino partner. As part of the partnership, Fanatics will release “premium NFL inventory including in-game advertising and media sponsorships with the NFL’s media partners,” as well as offering unique fan or VIP experiences.

In addition, Fanatics will have access to the NFL’s and teams’ event marks, including for key events like the Super Bowl and NFL Draft. Financial terms of the agreement were not released. Fanatics Betting & Gaming already has an e-commerce relationship with the league. Prior to the announcement, the NFL had allowed partnerships with Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, and FanDuel to lapse.

— Jill R. Dorson

Optimove offers some tennis advice

While many tennis fans may think of Wimbledon and the upcoming U.S. Open similarly as major events to look forward to each year, an analysis by Optimove Insights suggests that bettors respond to them differently. Its examination of the 2025 men’s finals for the two tournaments, which both featured top-seeded players Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, found bettors were far more interested in the Wimbledon final than that of the U.S. event.

The analysis spanning a total of 14.8 million bets found that while there was broadly similar bettor engagement overall for Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, it was starkly different depending on the round. For the final match, betting participation reached a level of 35% for Wimbledon instead of just 8% for the championship match at Flushing Meadows.

Optimove provided the bottom line from the findings for sportsbooks: “It suggests sportsbooks may be spending their U.S. Open marketing budgets at the wrong time. They should front-load U.S. Open acquisition and retention efforts rather than save their biggest push for the final.”

Odds and ends

FanDuel and GeoComply have renewed and expanded their partnership that already dates 13 years. The companies announced they will continue the agreement through which FanDuel uses GeoComply’s identity verification and fraud prevention technology, while a number of GeoComply engineers will also work directly with FanDuel’s product and operation teams.
Catalist Sports and Kalshi announced an agreement that gives the prediction market exclusive U.S. access to Catalist’s live streaming portfolio. Catalist is a licensed supplier of sports content spanning international tennis, soccer, and basketball.
Circa Sports is bringing back its annual “Circa Football Preview” with an event open to the public from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29, at the Circa Resort & Casino in Downtown Las Vegas. Hosted by Mike Palm, Circa Sports vice president of operations, the panel focused on betting options for the upcoming season will include predictions and insights offered by longtime oddsmaker Jeff Sherman, professional sports bettor Amal Shah, and Chicago Sports Network reporter Ruthie Polinsky.