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1 Africa2In late 2023, Entain decided to withdraw 3from the regulated markets of Zambia and 4Kenya but the Group remains committed to 5expanding its significant regulated offering 6in South Africa, where it has been present 7for a number of years. 8 US9The sports betting regulatory activity 10continues at pace in the United States. 11Kentucky, North Carolina and Vermont are 12amongst the US states that have regulated 13in 2023. Rhode Island has been added 14to the list of US iGaming states. Finally, 15additional states have adopted, or are in 16the process of adopting, modernised forms 17of responsible gambling regulation; a trend 18Entain welcomes with an eye on the long-19term sustainability of the US market. 20Bearing in mind that over 35 US states 21have already allowed for sports betting in 22one form or another, the Group remains of 23the view that in the coming years some 40 24or even 45 US states will have regulated 25sports-betting, which will provide BetMGM 26with even broader market access across 27the country. The number of states that 28permit online casino is also expected to 29grow in the years to come – for example the 30state of New York as already announced 31its intention to attempt iGaming regulation 32in 2024. 33 LATAM34In Latin America, Brazil adopted a law 35that allows for domestic licensing of sports 36betting and online casino in late 2023. 37The law will be implanted throughout 38the first half of 2024, with the regulated 39market expected to launch at some point 40in Q3 2024.The regulation will extend to 41all online gambling verticals, including 42sports betting and gaming, and will allow 43for an open licensing system subject to 44payment of betting and other taxes and 45fees. Furthermore, the Group has launched 46licensed operations in Mexico under its 47bwin brand.48There was better news in France  where 49we have seen nascent discussions 50about the possible legalisation of online 51casino, while in Croatia  the Government 52completed a regulatory review and is now 53looking to bolster its efforts to tackle the 54illegal market.55At the end of 2023, Entain only operated in 56two markets in Europe where it is not yet 57locally regulated. Despite our best efforts 58in Austria , there have been no changes to 59the status quo and the Government has 60no imminent plans to initiate the reforms it 61announced in March 2021. Nevertheless, 62we will continue to push for regulatory 63reforms. Encouragingly, in Finland  the 64Government has officially begun the 65process of dismantling the monopoly in 66favour of a licensing system that we expect 67to come into force sometime in 2026. 68 Australia69A parliamentary inquiry issued a report 70in 2023 calling for a ban on gambling 71advertising as part of a 31-point plan to 72reform the Australian gambling market. 73It also proposed various other measures 74including the establishment of a single 75national regulator and a formal duty of 76care. We expect the Government to come 77forward with its response to the report and 78proposed next steps in the first half of 2024. 79Elsewhere, the National Self-Exclusion 80Register BetStop launched in August, while 81a ban on credit card betting was adopted in 82December 2023 and will come into effect in 83mid-2024. 84 Canada85The Ontario online betting and gaming 86market became regulated on 4 April 2022, 87thereby becoming the first Canadian 88Province to issue domestic licenses for 89private operators. Entain operates in 90Ontario through its bwin and Party brands 91as well as Sports Interaction, a Canadian 92brand the Group acquired in February 2022. 93Going forward, other Canadian Provinces 94such as Alberta and British Colombia are 95expected to introduce regulation. 96 Other Europe97In 2023, wide-reaching advertising 98restrictions were introduced in Belgium , 99while a pending parliamentary bill and a 100draft Royal Decree could impose further 101restrictions on local operators in 2024. 102Fortunately, the sector was successful 103in blocking a proposal to introduce an 104additional 5% tax which would have had a 105detrimental impact on licenced operators 106and encouraged customers to move to 107black market operators and therefore 108reduce player protections. 109In the Netherlands , Entain completed 110the acquisition of BetCity in January 1112023. National elections took place in 112November and we await the formation of 113a new coalition government which could 114lead to change in direction for gambling 115policy. We are also expecting the Dutch 116authorities to come forward with new 117proposals on playing limits, AML and 118duty of care requirements which are likely 119to come into effect in 2024 and impose 120stricter compliance requirements on 121operators . The headline gambling tax rate 122also increased by 1% to 30.5% from 1st 123January 2024.124In Italy, the Government published a 125new framework law in 2023 laying the 126foundations for potentially wide-reaching 127sectoral reforms to be enacted in 2024 128and beyond, including an overhaul of the 129current gambling licence tender procedure 130which will increase licensing costs and 131impose stricter regulatory requirements on 132operators. In Spain , the government has 133moved oversight of gambling to a newly-134formed Ministry, while plans to introduce a 135system of cross-operator limits remain on 136the medium-term agenda. In Ireland we are 137still awaiting the enactment of the pending 138Gambling Regulation Bill that will introduce 139a formal regulatory and licensing regime for 140online gambling. In Denmark  a draft law 141has been published to amend the Gaming 142Act, including the introduction of a B2B 143licence regime to take effect from 2025. 144In 2023, we have seen tax increases 145announced in several of the markets where 146we operate. The Prime Minister of Georgia  147announced plans to increase taxes for 148online gaming from 10% to 15% GGR, and 149player winnings withholding taxes from 1502% to 5%, effective from 1 January 2024. 151The Swedish government has announced 152its intention to increase the rate of gaming 153tax from 18% to 22% with effect from 1 July 1542024, while the Latvian  Government plans 155to increase online gambling tax from 10% to 15612% GGR from January 2024.15739Entain plc Annual Report 20231581  Overview 8 S trategic report 88  Governance 140  F inancial statements159Regulatory update