iGaming market weekly report: April 6–12, 2026

The second week of April provided a European twist to the last week’s events with some of Europe’s most popular sporting events, including the Champions League.

As a result, Europe drew attention to the European sports calendar there were eight of the ten largest gains for the Shine Index located in Europe or its nearby regions and Turkey saw an increase of 6.1 million.

Ukraine was the exception this week due to a large increase in the Shine Index of 38.9% brought about by a rapid legislative cycle related to a ban on military gambling. The downside was divided into two distinct groups.

The countries of Norway and Colombia reversed the previous week’s gains; both countries experienced the classic event hangover phenomenon. The countries of Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador drifted lower but did not provide any reason for their declines. Therefore, these countries were likely experiencing a baseline compression rather than a suppression of their Shine Index values. Finally, the countries in Africa, which had dominated Week 14, did not appear on the leaderboard this week, indicating that their previous two weeks of increased attention had brought the continent into a normal level of interest in sporting events throughout Africa.

Top gainers

• Ukraine +38.9% – The Ukrainian Gambling Business Association formally countered the government’s universal military gambling ban proposal on April 10, arguing for a targeted case-by-case restriction model instead of a blanket block on over a million service members. The policy fight kept PlayCity, operator compliance, and the legal-versus-illegal market (estimated at 39–53% of total national volume) in continuous discussion all week.
• Ireland +33.8% – Grand National week is the single biggest betting moment of the Irish calendar alongside Cheltenham, and Irish trainers dominate Aintree — Willie Mullins won the last two editions with *I Am Maximus* and *Nick Rockett*, and Irish yards fielded most of the 2026 contenders.
• Turkey +33.3% – The Süper Lig title race entered its final stretch with Galatasaray leading, Fenerbahce and Trabzonspor chasing. Combined with Champions League quarter-final coverage, this delivered the week’s biggest absolute volume swing.
• Myanmar +22.9% – No clear country-specific trigger surfaced. The gain reads as a technical bounce off a thin base rather than an event-driven move.
• Lithuania +20.6% – No standalone Lithuanian policy or sports story. The move tracks with the European football cluster around the Champions League quarter-finals.

Top decliners

• Norway –44.8% – Event hangover after the prior week’s +46.2% surge.
• Colombia –29.7% – Event hangover after the prior week’s +26.3% surge.
• Venezuela –21.6% – No clear country-specific trigger surfaced within the reporting week.
• Dominican Republic –19.5% – Same pattern. No regulatory, sporting or political catalyst surfaced within the window. Reads as baseline compression.
• El Salvador –11.7% – Again, no regulatory or sports catalyst within the window. On a small base (~175K), a move of this magnitude sits within normal week-to-week noise rather than a meaningful reversal.

Market spotlight: Ukraine  +38.9%

In the last week, Ukraine added 495,000 Blask Index Points, with week-over-Week Gains of 495,000 Blask Index Points. The Blask Index is projected to reach 1,770,000 by the end of 2026 at the current pace of growth. Policy rather than sport has been the primary driver of the increases (see below), which is largely due to an accelerated timeline for legislations related to the ban on military participation in gambling.

On April 3, 2026, the Ministry of Digital Transformation closed its public consultation on the draft resolution that will ban all military personnel from participating in any form of licensed gambling. On April 10, 2023, the Ukrainian Gambling Business Association presented a comprehensive report demonstrating that illegal gambling accounts for 39% to 53% of the total amount wagered in the country, while approximately €1.18 billion has been wagered legally, utilizing 34 licensed operators.

Dev.ua, a leading news source in Ukraine, reported that gambling-related online searches in regions establishing an active military presence have sharply increased. In a couple of short months, the issue of gambling has engaged the public to a very high degree.

The anticipated launch of a second version of the regulations around gambling will take place sometime in late May or early June. Week 16 should produce no favorable catalyst associated with sports; there are no Ukrainian clubs competing in European knockout competition; the domestic Ukrainian Premier League will be settled in mid-table at best. The market should experience a partial pullback as the intensity of the public consultation period subsides. Following the release of the final set of regulations by PlayCity, there will be another spike in gambling search activity.

Regional snapshot

• Europe: The region carried the week. Turkey (+33.3%), Ukraine (+38.9%), Ireland (+33.8%), Lithuania (+20.6%), the UK (+18.9%), Czech Republic (+17.8%) and North Macedonia (+17.8%) all clustered on football and regulatory catalysts, with only Norway (–44.8%) running against the tide. The Europe-heavy leaderboard reflects the combined effect of Champions League fixtures, the Grand National, and domestic leagues.
• Asia-Pacific: Mixed and muted. Myanmar (+22.9%) and Azerbaijan (+16.5%) posted technical gains with no standout trigger, while India (–11.4%) drifted lower mid-IPL (March 28 – May 31, 74 matches). This reads as mean reversion from the opening-week surge rather than weakening interest. New Zealand (–10.8%) continues to drift without a catalyst.
• Africa: Africa sat out the top ten this week after dominating the prior report. The absence is the story: attention has normalised following two strong weeks. Only Malawi (–10.3%) appears among decliners. No suppression signal — just baseline compression after sustained visibility.

Original source: Blask.com

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.

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