New study: Illegal online gambling market outpaces legal industry

[The Buzz]

Illegal online gambling operators are growing at nearly twice the rate of the legal market, according to a new industry report.

Gambling Compliance International (GCI) analyzed consumer losses across legal U.S. online betting platforms and compared them with estimated losses at illegal offshore gambling websites and apps. The study, commissioned by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, found the black market is significantly outpacing the regulated industry.

Online gross gaming revenue (GGR), or player losses, increased nearly 40% to $125.6 billion in 2025, according to the study. Of that total, an estimated $97.4 billion, or 77%, came from the illegal market.

The findings suggest that the expansion of legal online casinos and mobile sports betting has done little to curb the growth of offshore gambling operators.

Unregulated online gambling revenue jumped 45% year-over-year, rising from $67.1 billion in 2024. By comparison, regulated online gambling GGR grew 23%, from $23 billion to $28.3 billion over the same period.

Read the report here: https://www.fairergambling.com/wp-co...07.31.2026.pdf

[mickyfu]

I wonder why? Could it be due to the likes of the self-serving UK gambling commission forcing people down this route. People's businesses ruined overnight because the parasites at the UKGC wanted more in their pockets.

[ocreditor]

I wonder why indeed...

[GlobalPokerSites]

It's a pretty fine balance regulators have to strike between protecting the general public and not allowing offshore casinos to have too much of a competitive advantage. Right now it seems like they have this balance wrong.

[NoDepositCasinos]

It's a pretty fine balance regulators have to strike between protecting the general public and not allowing offshore casinos to have too much of a competitive advantage. Right now it seems like they have this balance wrong.

The problem I see is that a lot of the time, regulators aren't aiming for that balance. Sometimes it's about maximizing tax revenue, other times about projecting a strong political image, or simply pushing uninformed policies copied from other jurisdictions. So, legal operators get their hands tied, while offshore sites operate freely to offer better incentives, and that’s ultimately where players go.

[LuckyBuddhaAffiliates]

The US sweepstakes casino niche has been growing in a similar fashion to offshore

[fonzi1022]

This isn't a surprise, people like options. Not being locked into specific programs.

[Affilify]

The actual numbers are way darker than they speak

[GlobalPokerSites]

The US sweepstakes casino niche has been growing in a similar fashion to offshore

Isn't it the opposite? With more and more states essentially closing the sweepstakes loophole?

[ocreditor]

Looks like the regulation is working brilliantly! The illegal market is only 77% of the total and growing almost twice as fast as the legal one. Great job, everyone. More restrictions, more complexity and more costs for licensed operators should definitely fix it.

[Pokerface]

No surprises here with this announcement. What do governments expect to happen?