Inclusion criteria describe evidence that can establish this activity. Exclusion criteria identify circumstances that do not establish it on that basis alone. The evaluation remains connected to its taxonomy version and supporting evidence.
Included when supported
Evidence may support involvement when it matches one or more of these inclusion criteria.
- 01Criterion
Casino Operations
Defined as: Companies that own, operate, or manage physical or online casinos offering games of chance such as slots, poker, roulette, blackjack, baccarat, or comparable casino games.
- 02Criterion
Sports Betting, Bookmaking, and Betting Exchange Operations
Defined as: Companies that own, operate, or manage retail, online, or mobile sportsbooks, bookmakers, betting exchanges, or other services that accept, match, manage, or settle customer wagers on sporting events or other events.
- 03Criterion
Lottery and Draw-Based Gambling Operations
Defined as: Companies that own, operate, or manage commercial or government-authorized lotteries, digital lotteries, instant-win games, number games, keno, bingo, or comparable draw-based gambling services where participants pay money or provide something of value for the possibility of receiving money or a prize of value.
- 04Criterion
Racing and Pari-Mutuel Wagering Operations
Defined as: Companies that own, operate, or manage horse-racing, greyhound-racing, jai alai, totalizator, off-track betting, or other pari-mutuel wagering venues or services where customer wagers are pooled, accepted, or settled.
- 05Criterion
Gaming Machine and Electronic Gambling Operations
Defined as: Companies that own, operate, or manage slot-machine, video lottery terminal, electronic gaming machine, pachinko, pachislot, gaming arcade, or similar machine-based gambling operations where customers wager money or valuables for the possibility of receiving money or prizes of value.
- 06Criterion
Fantasy Sports, Prediction Markets, Event Contracts, and Other Wagering Platform Operations
Defined as: Companies that operate paid-entry fantasy sports, prediction markets, event-contract platforms, or comparable services where customers stake money or redeemable value on an uncertain outcome and the company accepts, matches, clears, settles, or materially controls the transactions. Include products licensed or functionally operated as gambling. For products offered under financial-market regulation, assess the principal economic function, customer use, marketing, contract design, transaction role, and regulatory treatment rather than relying on the regulatory label alone. Exclude bona fide investment, hedging, insurance, or price-discovery products.
- 07Criterion
Purpose-Built Gambling Property Ownership
Defined as: Companies that directly own or hold the principal property interest in purpose-built casinos, racinos, integrated casino resorts, gaming-machine venues, or other real estate designed, licensed, and used primarily as a gambling venue, including casino REITs and sale-leaseback or triple-net lessors even where a tenant has complete control of gambling operations. Record the qualifying role as purpose-built property ownership rather than customer-wager operation. Exclude mortgage lenders, holders of securities without title or control, development finance without a continuing property interest, ordinary mixed-use landlords, and ownership of hotels, retail, or entertainment premises where gambling is merely incidental.
- 08Criterion
Operator Responsibility in Licensed, Merchant-of-Record, White-Label, Skin, and Market-Access Structures
Defined as: Companies that perform one or more substantive operator roles in a licensed, merchant-of-record, white-label, skin, or market-access arrangement, including offering facilities for gambling, contracting with players, accepting or holding customer wagering funds, acting as merchant of record for wagers, controlling player accounts or wagering rules, setting or materially controlling markets or odds, settling wagers, paying winnings, or bearing primary regulatory responsibility for the gambling service. Licence, skin, market-access, brand, or merchant-of-record labels are evidence but are not sufficient by themselves; classify the exact entity according to its documented role.
- 09Criterion
Sweepstakes and Redeemable-Value Gambling Operations
Defined as: Companies that operate continuing casino-style, betting-style, fantasy, or prediction games using sweepstakes credits, dual-currency models, virtual currency, tokens, or other credits where customers can buy or receive play currency and winnings can be redeemed for money, cash equivalents, transferable credits, gift cards, or other prizes of value. Include where purchases materially increase wagering opportunities or the currencies and prize system are economically linked, regardless of a sweepstakes label or the existence of a nominal free entry method. Exclude genuine promotional free draws with no economically linked purchase and no continuing casino-style wagering cycle.
Excluded on this basis alone
These circumstances do not establish this activity unless separate evidence also meets an inclusion criterion.
- 01Criterion
Gambling Support Services Without an Operating Role
Defined as: Companies whose only gambling-related activity is supplying gambling equipment, software, games, technology, data, marketing, affiliate, consulting, or other services to gambling operators and that do not own, operate, manage, accept, match, settle, or materially control customer wagers. These activities should be assessed as Gambling Support Services. If the company has separate operating activity, assess that activity under Gambling Operations and the support activity under Gambling Support Services.
- 02Criterion
Free-to-Play and Social Casino Games Without Redeemable Prizes
Defined as: Companies that provide casino-style, betting-style, or simulated gambling games using only non-redeemable virtual currency and from which users cannot receive money, cash equivalents, transferable credits, or other prizes of value. Payments made solely to purchase non-redeemable entertainment credits do not by themselves create Gambling Operations involvement. A free-entry method alone does not qualify for this exclusion where purchased currency materially enables repeated casino-style play and winnings are redeemable or economically linked to prizes of value; assess those models under Sweepstakes and Redeemable-Value Gambling Operations.
- 03Criterion
General Video Games, Amusement Activities, and Non-Gambling Competitions
Defined as: Companies that operate video games, amusement arcades, esports, skill competitions, trivia contests, or similar entertainment activities that do not involve wagering money or valuables on an outcome determined wholly or partly by chance and are not legally or functionally operated as gambling.
- 04Criterion
Media, Advertising, Sponsorship, and Sports Content Without Gambling Operations
Defined as: Media companies, broadcasters, publishers, sports teams, leagues, influencers, advertising firms, or sponsorship partners that display gambling advertising or gambling-related content but do not accept, manage, match, or settle customer wagers and do not own, operate, or manage a gambling venue or platform.
- 05Criterion
Bona Fide Financial-Market, Insurance, and Commercial Hedging Products
Defined as: Companies that operate securities exchanges, brokerage platforms, insurance products, regulated derivatives, or commercial hedging services whose principal function is investment, hedging, insurance, or price discovery and that are not marketed or functionally operated as customer wagering. This exclusion does not apply solely because a prediction or event-contract platform is registered as a financial market or uses derivative terminology; assess the principal economic function, customer use, marketing, contract design, transaction role, and regulatory treatment.
- 06Criterion
Incidental, Non-Commercial, Genuine Free-Draw, Third-Party-Hosted, or Ordinary Landlord Activity
Defined as: Companies or organizations whose only connection consists of occasional charitable or fundraising games, private or non-commercial gaming, genuine promotional free draws with no economically required or linked payment, minor fair or exhibition games, ordinary leasing of generic multi-use premises, or hosting a third-party gambling operator at general-purpose premises without owning a purpose-built gambling venue or materially managing the gambling service. A nominal or technically available free route is not controlling where paid packages materially fund repeated casino-style wagering and winnings can be redeemed for money or prizes of value.
- 07Criterion
Passive Brand, Skin, Market-Access, Sponsorship, or Venue Rights Without Operator Responsibility
Defined as: Companies whose only connection is a passive brand licence, skin or market-access right, sponsorship, marketing association, ordinary venue-hosting arrangement, or landlord right and that do not offer facilities for gambling, contract with players, accept or hold wagering funds, act as merchant of record for wagers, control player accounts or wagering rules, settle wagers, pay winnings, or bear primary operator responsibility. Revenue sharing, brand use, or a market-access label alone does not establish Gambling Operations. Assess any separately evidenced gambling-dedicated marketing, platform, or other support service under Gambling Support Services.
Evidence and evaluation methodology
How sources, entity pathways, decisions, qualifiers, and review history are handled.
Map screens to a client policy
How to choose provider screens, document coverage, and decide what happens after an outcome.