Illegal Online Gambling in US Hits $97.4 Billion as Growth Doubles Legal Market

Revenue from illegal online gambling in the US exceeded $97 billion in 2025, according to a study by Gaming Compliance International (GCI), a company specializing in gambling market monitoring and regulatory consulting.

According to GCI, key metrics for the US online gambling market changed as follows between 2024 and 2025:

• Illegal segment GGR increased by 45.2%, from $67.1 billion to $97.4 billion;
• Legal segment GGR grew by 23%, from $23 billion to $28.3 billion;
• Total online gambling GGR rose by 39.4%, from $90.1 billion to $125.6 billion;
• The share of the illegal segment increased from 74% to 77%.

According to GCI’s estimate, in 2025 more than three-quarters of US online gambling GGR came from operators operating without the required local licenses.

The study also included online lotteries and prediction markets.

For comparison, the American Gaming Association (AGA) — the national trade association representing the US gaming industry — estimated in a 2025 report that illegal online casinos generated $18.6 billion in annual revenue, while illegal sports betting accounted for another $5 billion. Combined, the figure was about $23.6 billion, four times lower than GCI’s current estimate.

However, the estimates from GCI and AGA cover different sets of gambling products and therefore cannot be considered measurements of exactly the same market segment.

* GGR (Gross Gaming Revenue) — the difference between the total amount wagered by customers and the winnings paid out to them.