Euromat-commissioned report says Europe’s black market grew 18% annually since 2019 and could reach €13 billion in 2026

A new report by Regulus Partners and Helios for Euromat puts a number on something licensed operators and PSPs already deal with in practice: a growing illegal gambling ecosystem that is increasingly brand-led, crypto-friendly, and spread across 28 European jurisdictions. For payment providers, the useful bit is not the headline size alone, but the mechanics behind it.

1. The report estimates that Europe’s black market has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 18% between 2019 and 2026, and could be worth up to €13 billion by the end of the year. It covers 28 European jurisdictions, including the UK, Netherlands and Germany.
2. According to the report, 25 operators account for approximately 64% of relevant black market traffic. The authors say the top group of sites by common owner has a 12% share of traffic, while the largest single brand has 10%.
3. The report links that concentration to two familiar ingredients: “rapid growth of crypto currencies” and branding amplified through marketing and sponsorships. In other words, some of the biggest illegal operators now look less like fly-by-night sites and more like recognisable consumer brands.
4. The report also notes that several black market operators are licensed in “light touch” offshore jurisdictions and use opaque offshore operating structures to obscure company ownership, which makes local enforcement more complex. By comparison, the long tail of smaller sites relies heavily on affiliates to generate traffic.
5. On the regulated side, the report points to restrictive policies as a major driver of black market growth. Up to 46% of the markets covered enforced “significant advertising restrictions,” including Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Spain. The report also cites consumer taxes in 29% of the 28 markets, banned products in 14%, and monopolies in five markets.

One line in the report matters for anyone selling payments into high-risk: “Players typically play across various verticals,” so when a jurisdiction bans specific products or betting markets, customers do not politely sit still. They move to whatever site still offers the full menu — and that usually means the operator that can take crypto, hide ownership better, and spend enough on branding to look familiar.