Illegal online betting in the US hits $97.4 billion in 2025, outpacing regulated growth

Illegal online gambling in the United States generated $97.4 billion in gross revenue in 2025, up 45.2% from $67.1 billion in 2024, according to a report by Gaming Compliance International (GCI) commissioned by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG). For PSPs and acquiring teams, the point is simple: legalization did not shrink the black market, and the unlicensed side still dominates the economics.

1. Licensed operators grew too, but at a slower pace. Regulated online gambling revenue rose 23% year on year, from $23 billion to $28.3 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR). Combined consumer losses from online betting in the US increased from $90.1 billion in 2024 to $125.6 billion in 2025, up 39.4%.
2. Unlicensed operators now account for 77% of the total US online betting market measured by GGR, up from 74% a year earlier. In other words, the legal market expanded, but the illegal market expanded faster, which is not the neat policy outcome anyone sells in a slide deck.
3. The report says the legalization of sports betting and online casinos in US states has not slowed illegal operators. GCI’s view is that regulated market expansion increased the total betting volume in the country, while unlicensed sites and apps kept growing alongside it.
4. CFG argues that the gap in growth rates justifies tougher action against illegal operators before any further expansion of online gambling. Derek Webb, CFG’s funder, said: “the legal sector uses the presence of the illicit sector to demand legalization and then asks for low taxation and little regulation to compete with the illicit sector.” He added that “taking action against the bad actors in the illicit sector is the solution and should be the priority of all stakeholders.”
5. GCI also introduced a new state-level metric, the Loss Ratio, which compares gross betting revenue per capita with per capita income to show gambling losses as a share of income. In states with regulated sports betting and online casinos, the average Loss Ratio was 1.38% in 2025. In states with only regulated sports betting, it was 0.99%. In states with no regulated product, the average was 0.44%.

Among the state-level figures highlighted in the report, Louisiana had the highest betting spend relative to income of any US state, as well as the highest illegal-spend ratio, with the report attributing most of that spending to unlicensed sites. West Virginia, where sports betting and online casinos are legal, posted a total Loss Ratio of 1.57%, with 0.87 percentage points attributed to the unregulated sector.