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About Merlins Magic Mirror
Thanks to their hosting of the World Cup, numerous cities across the nation have experienced higher visitor volumes this year.
They include Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle. Austin, Detroit, and New Orleans have also reported higher tourism in 2026.
The record-breaking numbers make clear that Americans haven’t pulled back on travel spending, even amid a challenging economic backdrop. But that demand hasn’t necessarily translated to Las Vegas in 2026, as World Cup host cities absorbed a larger share of domestic trips.
What is Merlins Magic Mirror?
Members advocated for stronger powers to be given to Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the regulator of gambling in the Netherlands, with tougher action taken against payment providers, social media sites and affiliates that facilitate illegal gambling.
Van Bruggen revealed the cabinet was in the process of developing legislation to introduce DNS blocking for illegal sites, with a consultation due for early 2027.
Members flagged the growing issue of illegal gambling sites’ advertising appearing across social media, an issue the sector in Netherlands has sought to tackle directly through legal action against Meta.
How to play Merlins Magic Mirror
The investigation, which included secretly recorded interviews and conversations with Evolution staff members and other whistleblowers, was followed up with a damning report accusing the supplier of knowingly providing its services in sanctioned jurisdictions.
In April, court documents showed that Evolution had sought to add Playtech to the case.
While Playtech has backed its Black Cube investigation Evolution slammed it as a “smear campaign”, and has strongly refuted the claims made, citing them as “highly inflammatory and knowingly false”.
