This article is an opinion piece by Lee Hills, CEO of leading iGaming regulatory advisory service SolutionsHub.
When we wrote in April 2026 about the Isle of Man’s proposed data asset framework, the point was fairly straightforward: gaming businesses generate huge amounts of data, but much of it remains difficult to isolate, govern, or properly value as an asset in its own right.
Everyone understands that data matters. Far fewer businesses can clearly explain what they actually hold, who controls it, what rights attach to it or how it should be assessed.
Without a legal foundation for valuing datasets, there has been limited motivation to properly govern or value what a business actually holds. The Isle of Man’s Data Asset Foundations legislation, receiving Royal Assent, creates a legal structure to recognise, govern, and manage datasets as assets.
The legal foundation is now in place. The practical machinery still has to follow. The Data Asset Register and the Data Asset Registrar remain in development, with consultation on the operating model currently underway and full implementation expected later in 2026. Supporting regulations and guidance will determine how useful the framework becomes in practice. A dataset that is weak, fragmented or poorly governed needs work before it reflects any recognised value.
For gaming businesses, the question has always been whether data can be organised and evidenced clearly enough for investors, lenders, acquirers, regulators and commercial partners to understand it.
Few sectors are more data-dependent than gaming. Operators hold data on player behaviour, deposits, withdrawals, product engagement, marketing performance, safer gambling interventions, fraud monitoring, affordability, customer journeys and VIP management. Suppliers hold data on game performance, platform activity, player engagement, distribution, jurisdictional restrictions and operational risk.
Much of this information feeds directly into how a gaming business operates, including customer acquisition, retention, pricing, trading decisions, safer gambling controls, compliance oversight and enterprise value.
Yet in many transactions, data is still treated as part of the general story. A business says it is data-rich. A buyer nods. The discussion then moves into revenue, EBITDA, customer concentration, regulatory history and technology. The data may influence all of those things, but it is not always separately identified or tested.
That hides important differences. Two businesses may both describe themselves as data-rich. One may have years of proprietary data with clear ownership and reliable audit trails. Another may have information spread across multiple suppliers and jurisdictions, with gaps around ownership, control and oversight.
A recognised framework makes those differences easier to examine. Businesses with stronger governance and clearer structures will find it easier to evidence what they hold and how it is managed. The due diligence process still matters, but stronger datasets become easier to assess properly.
Data in gaming often includes personal data, behavioural data, risk data, payment-related information, compliance records and operational intelligence. Treating that data as an asset still means dealing with data protection law, gambling regulation, AML controls and contractual restrictions. None of those obligations disappear once data starts being treated as an asset.
Take an operator with several years of proprietary player behaviour data. That data shows how customers interact with different products, when risk markers arise, how interventions affect behaviour, which channels produce sustainable value and how different cohorts perform over time.
This supports safer gambling models, marketing decisions, product development, player protection, fraud prevention, credibility with regulatory bodies and investor confidence. For a business building a case with a regulator, an acquirer or a lender, that kind of evidence has weight. The difficulty has always been presenting it in a form that stands alone, separate from the broader operational picture.
But unless it is properly structured and governed, it may still be difficult to separate from the wider business and explain it as an asset in its own right. A Data Asset Foundation provides a structure through which that dataset can be clearly identified, governed, and assessed. When that dataset is well-governed and clearly evidenced, it can be assessed independently of the wider business. That changes how it sits in a transaction, a funding round or a regulatory review.
Royal Assent gives the Isle of Man a framework that matters commercially. Data-rich businesses now have a route to organise, govern and explain one of their most important assets in terms that the market can understand and test.
The businesses best placed to benefit will be those that already understand their data, how it is controlled and how it stands up under scrutiny.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SiGMA News editorial team.
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