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Pennsylvania’s Office of Enforcement Counsel has objected to a proposed licensing arrangement intended to clear Bally’s Intralot’s acquisition of evoke, the owner of William Hill, 888 and Mr Green. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has the final say, and the enforcement office recommended a series of safeguards if the board nevertheless approves the request.

The filing, dated Oct. 26 and listed as docket 14574-2026, concerns evoke’s remaining Pennsylvania business rather than a consumer-facing 888 or William Hill operation. Gambling.com reported that evoke and its 888 Atlantic subsidiary provide technology, player-account-management and customer-support services to Caesars Interactive Entertainment for WSOP Online in Pennsylvania.

888 Atlantic operates under an interactive gaming manufacturer licence. The petition, filed around Aug. 18 by evoke, 888 Atlantic, Bally’s Intralot and Bally’s Corporation, seeks conditional surrender of that licence and approval for a change of control of 888 Atlantic.

The obstacle is Bally’s existing Pennsylvania position. NEXT.io reported that state regulations restrict acquisitions of interactive gaming manufacturers by groups holding interactive gaming certificates. Bally’s Corporation owns 58.79% of Bally’s Intralot and is licensed in the state; Bally’s Pennsylvania holds two interactive gaming certificates.

The petitioners said their commercial rationale for the deal relates to evoke’s operations outside the United States, making its U.S. activities irrelevant to that objective. They also said a conventional licensing process could take at least nine months. Bally’s Intralot offered 0.537 of its shares, valued at £0.52, for every evoke share, in a transaction reported to be worth about £243 million.

The OEC opposed any waiver of the rules, arguing that a substantially similar future application could rely on the board’s decision as precedent. Still, it said it was not overly concerned that an approval would materially harm Pennsylvania’s public or licensed gaming if the waiver were granted.

Its proposed conditions include weekly post-closing updates, monthly administrative oversight fees, delivery of executed closing documents within five business days, and a rule that the licence surrender takes effect only after final board approval and staff confirmation. The recommended supervision payment was $20,000 a month, and the safeguards would also prevent unlicensed people gaining control of 888 Atlantic during the transition.

The Caesars services agreement dates to January 2012. Its latest amendment ran through Sept. 19 and allowed a wind-down period of up to six months. Caesars confirmed in April 2025 that Pennsylvania had joined its WSOP Online shared-liquidity pool with Nevada, New Jersey and Michigan, creating the first U.S. online poker network shared across four jurisdictions.

Evoke said in its Oct. 23 trading update that both shareholder groups had approved the transaction and that most required regulatory approvals had been received. It projected completion in late 2026 or early 2027, subject to the remaining conditions, including the unresolved Pennsylvania petition.