Failing to Protect Players Just Got Pretty Expensive for AG Communications

By Natasa Milojevic, Last updated Mar 11, 2025

We all know few things compare to the pain of having to reach for your wallet and cough up the money for an expense you didn’t see coming. The UKGC seems to agree because they’ve just hit AG Communications (Aspire Global) with a £1.4 million (roughly $1.8 million) penalty for something they’ve phrased as ‘wholly unacceptable’ behavior. 

So what did AG Communications do that’s so out of line? Well, a couple of things, and objectively speaking, none of them could be phrased as player-first behavior. 

For starters, they turned a blind eye to a player losing over £6,000 within two days. Those keeping up with the UKGC matters know that operators have to keep an eye out for gambling harm and step in the moment something like that happens.

Then, some people lost even more money due to a system error, while others found a way around AG’s self-exclusion and made loads of accounts in one of their casinos. Sounds a bit off? Wait until you hear that AG Communications owns 50+ gambling platforms.

But what’s the final outcome? Well, John Pierce, director of enforcement at the Gambling Commission, says such behavior is wholly unacceptable. On top of all that, he sees it as a warning to other operators playing with fire and expects AG Communications to hand over £1.4 million to social causes. 

So, does the penalty match the act? If AG Communications stops breaking the rules, we’d say it’s fair. But if you see another headline like this anytime soon at Casinomeister, you can draw up your own conclusion on the subject of fairness. 

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