Illegal market accounts for 72 per cent of Europe’s online gambling revenue, new report finds
The report from the Campaign for Fairer Gambling recommends that European enforcement efforts target the wider ecosystem behind unlicensed gambling.
UK.- A new report has found that the majority of online gambling revenue generated across the EU comes from operators working outside national regulatory frameworks. Meanwhile, most gambling-related content seen by engaged consumers also originates from the unregulated sector.
The study, Online Gambling 2024–2025: EU 27 Europe, was produced by Gaming Compliance International (GCI) for the Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG). According to its findings, gross gambling revenue (GGR) generated by unregulated online operators from consumers in the EU 27 countries increased from €52.6bn in 2023 to €91.6bn in 2025, representing growth of 74 per cent over two years.
That figure would represent an estimated 72 per cent of Europe’s total online gambling market, which was valued at €128bn. The report argues that this activity sits beyond local regulatory boundaries, creating challenges for consumer protection, taxation, licensing and regulatory supervision.
Beyond the revenue figures, the report highlights concerns about the way consumers are exposed to gambling-related content. It found that 121 million people across Europe encountered online gambling content during 2025, with 88 million reached by material linked to unregulated operators. Among consumers who actively engaged with online gambling content, 91 per cent of the material they were exposed to promoted the unregulated sector.
Affiliates, social media platforms, advertising networks, search services, mobile applications, payment systems, peer-to-peer communications and illegal streaming services were all identified as channels that help operators attract audiences, acquire customers and generate revenue. According to the report, unregulated operators are supported by a broader infrastructure that allows activity to continue even as websites or domains change.
The report argues that criminal activity affects the gambling marketplace as a whole and concludes that intelligence gathering and enforcement efforts should reflect that reality by targeting the wider ecosystem rather than focusing solely on individual operators.
Commenting on the findings, Derek Webb, founder of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, said: “Europe has an enforcement failure occurring in plain sight. €91.6bn in online gambling revenue was generated outside the local regulatory perimeter in 2025. That scale should focus attention on enforcement – on operators evading local rules and the infrastructure that enables them to reach European consumers.
“The answer is not weaker regulation or tax concessions for licensed operators. Europe has an enforcement problem. Unregulated gambling operates across borders, platforms and infrastructure while enforcement remains overwhelmingly national. A licence ‘from somewhere’ is not permission to operate everywhere.”
Ismail Vali, president of Gaming Compliance International and founder and former chief executive of Yield Sec, said the scale of exposure to unregulated gambling content should serve as a warning to policymakers and regulators: “By the time the bet is placed, the battle for the customer may already have been lost. Unregulated gambling is winning audience attention before the consumer ever reaches a gambling site. Six thousand unregulated operators are not six thousand separate problems. They rely on the same ecosystem to advertise, find consumers, distribute products, move money, and stay online. That is also their vulnerability.
“You cannot optimise what you do not measure. Europe needs to see the whole marketplace – regulated and unregulated – and enforce across the ecosystem that sustains it.”
