Circus Party

What is Circus Party?

Atucha warns there is a tipping point where higher taxes can undermine channelisation, citing the UK and Germany as important case studies.

“I sometimes wish regulators would look at other cases,” he adds. “I mean, what happened in Germany, what’s happening in the UK.”

This risk is particularly apparent when many offshore operators are established brands rather than unknown entities.

How to play Circus Party

However, the scheme has faced ongoing scrutiny and criticism. Clubs can direct the funds towards upgrading their own facilities, and there is no mandated verification for how the grant recipients must deploy the money. 

The latest 2025 contribution report indicated that $127 million was awarded, with $53.3 million specifically allocated to sport-related organisations.

Caroline Lamb informed a recent review that the current responsibility of annually processing over 500 ClubGRANTS applications within a short time frame imposed significant constraints. 

About Circus Party

In July the Commission said its investigation had discovered the supplier had failed to maintain adequate anti-money laundering and customer due diligence controls in the UK.

It considered suspending Evolution’s licence, but the supplier acted swiftly, carrying out ring-fencing controls across Europe to prevent its games from being used in grey markets.

Evolution’s case against Black Cube continues. It even sought to add Playtech as a defendant in April.