The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is targeting a December launch for a mobile app that will let players check whether an online gambling platform holds a Philippine licence, as the regulator steps up its campaign against illegal operators.

The PAGCOR board approved the development and implementation of the app on 8 October, according to reports in The Manila Times and BusinessWorld. The project was first flagged in August.

PAGCOR chairman and chief executive Alejandro Tengco said the app would help the public distinguish licensed platforms from unauthorised operators and avoid illegal gambling sites.

Built at no cost to the regulator

The app is set to be developed by DBP Data Center Inc. (DCI), a subsidiary of the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines. Under the proposed five-year arrangement, DCI would develop, host, operate and maintain the platform, including technical support, at no cost to PAGCOR. The partnership can be renewed by mutual written agreement.

Before full implementation, DCI must present a proof of concept for a minimum viable product. A six-month technical assessment will review the app’s proposed features, system architecture, security controls and overall feasibility, and PAGCOR can terminate the arrangement if deficiencies are not corrected within a reasonable period. The six-month timeline suggests that any December release will be an initial version, with the full rollout to follow.

The arrangement must also comply with the Philippines’ Data Privacy Act of 2012 and related cybersecurity and information security rules, with data-sharing provisions to be set out in the main agreement or a separate one.

Illegal market pressure

The app is one part of a broader enforcement push. PAGCOR is working with the Department of Information and Communications Technology, the National Telecommunications Commission and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center to block and pursue unlicensed online gambling operators.

Tengco has previously said that illegal gambling accounts for roughly half of the Philippine gaming market, a share that undermines both state revenue and the licensed operators that pay fees and taxes to PAGCOR.

The move follows a turbulent period for the Philippine online sector. The government banned Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) from the end of 2024, and domestic online gambling has since faced growing political scrutiny, with lawmakers proposing tighter controls on e-wallet payments and advertising.

PAGCOR is also unusual among gambling authorities in that it both regulates the market and operates casinos itself under the Casino Filipino brand. Tengco has said the corporation intends to divest its operating business so that it can concentrate on regulation. A consumer-facing licence check fits that shift, giving the regulator a direct channel to players at a time when unlicensed sites are increasingly marketed through social media and messaging apps.

Why it matters

Verification tools of this kind put licence status directly in front of consumers, rather than relying on them to check a regulator’s website. For licensed operators, that offers a potential competitive advantage over the grey market, provided the app is widely adopted and kept current. For unlicensed sites that rely on mimicking legitimate brands, it adds another obstacle to acquiring Philippine players.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has opened a review of the fourth National Lottery licence, examining whether the Gambling Commission designed, awarded and oversaw the licence effectively enough to maximise returns to good causes.

The public spending watchdog listed the study as work in progress on its website, with publication scheduled for spring 2027. The licence, which runs from 2024 to 2034, was awarded to Allwyn Entertainment in 2022 and took effect on 1 February 2024, when Allwyn replaced Camelot UK Lotteries. It was the first change of operator since the National Lottery launched in 1994.

Scope of the study

According to the NAO, the review will assess whether the Gambling Commission and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS):

• designed and awarded the fourth licence in a way that supports successful delivery of the National Lottery;
• effectively oversaw the transition to the new operator and implementation of the licence; and
• identified and applied lessons from the licence to support delivery through to 2034 and inform future lottery licensing.

The focus is on the regulator and the department rather than on Allwyn itself. The study is being led by NAO director Simon Bittlestone, with Callum Saunders as study manager. The Gambling Commission said it welcomed the review, according to trade press reports.

The Commission has regulated the National Lottery since 2013, when it absorbed the functions of the former National Lottery Commission. Its statutory duties include ensuring the lottery is run with propriety, protecting players’ interests and, subject to those duties, maximising the proceeds that go to good causes. It runs licence competitions on behalf of DCMS, which sets policy for the lottery and receives the NAO’s findings alongside the regulator.

A contested handover

The fourth licence competition was one of the most contested procurements in the Commission’s history. Camelot, which had run the National Lottery since its launch, challenged the award in the High Court before the transition went ahead, and the handover was later delayed as the two operators worked through the technical migration.

Allwyn’s bid centred on a commitment to significantly increase returns to good causes over the life of the licence, and that commitment is likely to be a key benchmark for the NAO’s assessment. Good causes received around £1.7bn from National Lottery sales during 2025, the first full year of Allwyn’s stewardship, according to reports.

The review comes during a period of change at the regulator. The Gambling Commission is also recruiting a new chief executive, meaning the eventual findings will land with a new leadership team responsible for overseeing the licence through its remaining years.

What it means

NAO reports do not change contracts or impose penalties, but they carry significant weight with Parliament. Findings are typically examined by the Public Accounts Committee, which can call senior officials to give evidence. A critical report could shape both the Commission’s oversight of Allwyn for the rest of the decade and the design of the fifth licence competition, which will need to begin well before 2034.

Details of the study are available on the National Audit Office website.

Underdog has sued Tennessee in federal court to block the state from shutting down its prediction market product, testing state authority in a circuit that has already ruled against Kalshi on the same question.

Underdog’s exchange and brokerage entities filed the complaint on 13 October in the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville. The defendants are Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and members of the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council. According to court records cited in trade press coverage, the case has been assigned to Chief Judge William L. Campbell Jr.

The cease-and-desist

The lawsuit follows a cease-and-desist letter the Sports Wagering Council sent on 9 October directing Underdog to stop offering sports event contracts in Tennessee. According to the complaint, the letter warned of fines, civil penalties and criminal investigations, and raised the prospect of revoking the fantasy sports licence held by an affiliated Underdog company.

Underdog argues that its exchange is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and that Tennessee’s gambling laws are therefore preempted. “Defendants are violating the Supremacy Clause by intruding upon the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction,” the complaint states. It asks the court for a declaration to that effect and a permanent injunction barring enforcement.

An uphill court

Underdog is bringing the case in unfavourable territory. On 25 September the Sixth Circuit, which covers Tennessee and Ohio, vacated the preliminary injunction Kalshi had won against Tennessee, holding that Kalshi had not shown its sports contracts were swaps and that, even if they were, federal commodities law did not preempt state gambling rules. Kalshi petitioned for rehearing by the full court on 9 October.

That ruling ended an eight-month run in which Kalshi had been protected in Tennessee. The state sent cease-and-desist letters to Kalshi, Polymarket and Crypto.com in January 2026, Kalshi won a preliminary injunction the following month, and Tennessee appealed in May. Underdog was not offering prediction markets when the first round of letters went out.

The picture is mixed elsewhere. A federal judge in Illinois sided with Kalshi earlier this month, while Kalshi was denied an injunction in Connecticut in August and is appealing to the Second Circuit. That split between courts is one reason both sides expect the question to end up before the Supreme Court.

Underdog acknowledges that ruling in its filing and has said it is preserving its arguments for appeal, with the wider question widely expected to reach the US Supreme Court.

Tennessee is one of a growing list of states Underdog has taken to court. Legal Sports Report counts Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin as earlier targets. The company entered prediction markets after agreeing in March to acquire Aristotle Exchange’s federally registered exchange and clearinghouse.

A wider fight

The case is the latest in a run of state-versus-exchange disputes this month. Crypto.com and Novig have sued Missouri over its crackdown on sports event contracts, while Ohio and Missouri have both issued orders against multiple platforms.

The CFTC, meanwhile, has proposed treating event contracts as swaps, which would strengthen the exchanges’ preemption argument if adopted. Tennessee’s regulator has long resisted that position. In an April 2025 letter, the Sports Wagering Council urged the CFTC to act, writing: “we ask that you respect the policy decisions made by the Tennessee Legislature.”

For now, Underdog’s real exposure in Tennessee may be less about its exchange than its established fantasy business, which the state has made clear it is prepared to use as leverage.