Nominations open for 2027 RTG Global Awards at Sydney’s Regulating the Game conference with expanded program of 12 categories
The organizers of Sydney’s Regulating the Game conference have confirmed that nominations are now open for the second edition of the RTG Global Awards, taking place on the evening of 9 March at Sofitel Sydney Wentworth.
The 2027 RTG Global Awards boasts an expanded program of 12 categories, aiming to recognize principled leadership, capability and contribution across the international gambling regulatory and sector community. The inaugural awards were conferred across six categories in March 2026 and drew strong interest from regulators, operators, suppliers, researchers, clinicians and advisers worldwide, the organizers explained.
The six new categories are Gambling Harm Prevention Campaign, recognizing awareness and education initiatives; Research Impact, celebrating evidence led work translated into practical outcomes; Sport and Wagering Integrity Initiative, honoring programs that protect sporting fairness and wagering integrity; Compliance Advisory, recognizing advisory services that strengthen governance and capability; Black Market Disruption Initiative, acknowledging efforts to counter illegal and unregulated gambling; and Distinguished Contribution, honoring exceptional and enduring service to the sector.
They join the six returning categories: Leadership Voice, Safer Gambling Champion, Compliance Excellence, RegTech Solution, Community Impact Initiative and Emerging Leader.
The Black-Market Disruption Initiative category stands out as of particular interest, responding to one of the fastest growing pressures on regulated markets. Illegal and unregulated operators erode consumer protection, divert activity and revenue away from licensed markets, and place customers beyond the reach of harm minimization measures. Some jurisdictions have met this with a decision to regulate. New Zealand’s licensing of online casino gambling is not the creation of a new market; it is an existing one being drawn inside a regulated perimeter, with consumer protection, harm minimization obligations and enforcement attached to it.
Much of this work is necessarily public. It means naming the policy challenge plainly, building the support and collaboration needed to answer it and pushing back on the two responses that make the problem worse: retreating into prohibition, which surrenders the market and its customers to unlicensed operators, and regulation or taxation set so heavily that the licensed channel cannot hold the customers it was built to protect.
The technical work runs alongside it – payment and ISP blocking, cross-border intelligence sharing, enforcement action and litigation, and disruption of payment rails an affiliate and advertising channels.
Regulating the Game organizers said they encourage regulators, operators and industry bodies in every jurisdiction to nominate and set out what they did and what it achieved. The category is open to work at any scale, from key policy initiatives to coordinated international action, and nominations are welcomed from mature and emerging markets alike. Recognition is intended to make effective practice visible to those confronting the same problem elsewhere.
Paul Newson, Founder of Regulating the Game and Principal at Vanguard Overwatch, explained that nominations for all categories are open worldwide to individuals, organizations and initiatives, with eligible work undertaken within the past 12 months. Both self-nominations and third-party nominations are welcomed.
“The inaugural awards showed the appetite across our sector to recognize the people and organizations lifting standards, strengthening integrity and improving outcomes,” said Newson. “For 2027 we have widened the field to 12 categories so that recognition reaches further, across harm prevention, integrity, research and enduring contribution, as well as leadership and compliance. I would encourage the sector to nominate someone deserving of recognition and to put their own work forward with confidence. Reward and recognition matter, and this is a moment to acknowledge those doing the work that sustains public trust.”
Nominations for 2027 will be assessed by a distinguished and independent judging panel drawn from across the international regulatory, industry, integrity and research community. Confirmed panelists include Khalid Ali, Chief Executive Officer of the International Betting Integrity Association; Kai Cantwell, Chief Executive Officer of Responsible Wagering Australia; Peter Cohen of The Agenda Group; Professor Paul Delfabbro of the University of Adelaide; Don Hammond, Chief Executive Officer of Leagues Clubs Australia; Tracy Parker of the Responsible Gambling Council; Dan Rule of Endeavour Group; Tess Salmon of Aube Communications; and Dan Waugh of Regulus Partners.
Nominations are open until 21 December 2026, with finalists announced on 1 February 2027 and winners recognized at the RTG Global Awards Gala Dinner on the evening of 9 March 2027 at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth.
For more information or to nominate, visit www.regulatingthegame.com/global-awards or contact awards@regulatingthegame.com.
