Aztec Forest

About Aztec Forest

From recruitment to regulation, cybersecurity, tribal gaming, affiliates, gambling law, C-suite leaders and everything else in between, the campaign has shown that where roles, companies and backgrounds differ, many of the women we have honoured share a united drive to improve diversity within the sector.

This year sees the return of the majority of our judging panel for either the first, second or third consecutive year! Their confidence in the campaign, and how it’s run is a real testament to Most Influential Women, and how highly it is regarded across the sector, particularly as these types of lists and rankings gain popularity across industry media.

As of today, submissions for the 2026 iGB’s Most Influential Women list are open! We are once again looking for nominations that highlight all facets of the sector, and the women who are championing change and acting as leading forces within their company, or the sector more broadly.

What is Aztec Forest?

Its share price decline began after reaching an all-time high in September 2021. Over the course of five years it has slipped 73% to 530p.

It has been a challenging few years for Entain, having cycled through four CEOs in short succession. In November 2023 Entain agreed to pay a financial penalty totalling £585 million, plus a £20 million charitable donation and £10 million in Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and HMRC costs. This related to a bribery case initiated by the CPS into the company’s historic operations in Turkey.

Troubles continued as it faced declining growth within its digital business. Reports of failed integrations amid a frenzy of acquisitions further dampened Entain’s reputation and the operator subsequently committed to a major turnaround effort to cut costs and return its digital business to growth.

How to play Aztec Forest

That effort has led the government to Baldwin, Scott, and Bridge Capital, even though none was personally named as owing the money in the arbitration awards.

Laos argues they were effectively indistinguishable from the companies that were ordered to pay and should therefore be held responsible for the debt.

A federal judge previously rejected Laos’ attempt to pursue Baldwin and Bridge Capital because they had not been parties to the original arbitrations.