Fire Strike

About Fire Strike

“We saw that they had entered football and advertising, and they have political and economic weight. Understanding that Congress would not prohibit the activity, we decided to put the brakes on and establish the rules.

“It’s not that I want to collect taxes because I need the money. I want to collect taxes for the sake of fairness: if a company sells cars, it pays taxes; if it sells drinks, it pays taxes. If it’s authorised to operate, it has to pay.”

In the interview, the minister mentioned the tax changes proposed by the Ministry of Finance, and more recently, the ban on beneficiaries of social welfare programmes from gambling.

What is Fire Strike?

As of 31 March 2026, there were 2,154 licensed gambling operators, marking a 1.1% decline on the previous year. However the number of separately licensed gambling activities edged up 0.4% to 3,097. 

The land-based gambling sector, comprising adult gaming centres (AGCs), betting shops, bingo halls and casinos, produced £4.9 billion in GGY over the year, marking a 1.1% yearly increase.

However, the UK’s physical estate shrank, with overall licensed gambling premises falling by 2% to 8,081.

About Fire Strike

Earlier this year, the Illinois Gaming Board approved 65 VGT licence applications in the city, according to the Sun-Times. VGTs are the highest-grossing gaming vertical in Illinois, generating substantially more revenue and taxes than land-based casinos.

Papanier said the components of Bally’s Chicago that are being “reset and re-contemplated” are “all in conjunction with the proliferation of VGTs”. While the current number of licences is low, he asserted that widespread proliferation could result in a “30% to 50% impact on top-line revenue” for the casino and it would be “irresponsible” to continue construction “until we understand what the landscape looks like”.

Bally’s stock jumped 7% in trading on Monday to $9.84. Shares had fallen 30% in the last month in response to uncertainty in Chicago and warnings about the company’s ability to continue as a growing concern in its Q2 earnings report. Former CFO Mira Mircheva resigned on 4 September, prompting Papanier to take over the role on an interim basis.