A new report from The Campaign for Fairer Gambling and Yield Sec has revealed that 74% of all gross gambling revenue in the US actually goes to offshore operators and platforms. The damning report shows that 917 different operators target the US, despite not being licensed to provide gambling in the country.
$67.1 billion in 2024 was acquired by overseas hosts, with only $23 billion to legal US operators. Despite multiple options for legal gambling in the country, it appears that many consumers will choose an illegal provider. The growth between 2023 and 2024 is exponential, rising from $40.9 billion to $67.1 billion in just a year.
While the industry has grown 56% overall, illegal operators still have the upper hand in the US. This is because in some states, gambling just isn’t available. Alabama, for instance, is only now preparing to hear from its local Native American tribe about a proposed method of bringing casinos to the state. California and New York also have strict rules, with California banning sportsbooks and New York having a small number of options.
As such, a lot of gamblers are forced to access offshore platforms to get their fix. Sites like BetOnline and Bovada are often the only options available to facilitate the need. With the rise of platforms like Stake, FanDuel, and DraftKings, as well as prediction markets, there’s never been more ways to gamble in the US, hence the huge growth on the legal side of things.
Legally, growth has hit 36% in 2024, according to the report. However, illegal gambling has seen a jump to 64%.
Illegal gambling reigns supreme in some states
Texas and California are prime examples of states that don’t provide legal online gambling to their citizens, contributing to the illegal platforms. California reportedly spent $5,488,135,924 on illegal gambling, while Texas citizens paid $5,488,135,924. Compare this to Michigan, which spent a total of $2,911,468,491 legally and $2,180,156,407 illegally.
However, this more even split isn’t countrywide. Ohio, for instance, spent $4,363,358,787 more on illegal gambling than legal ($899,684,607 vs $5,263,043,394).
As the report points out, a large part of this is also due to the fact that there’s no taxation on the illegal platforms. There’s more cash to push their platforms to the audience, with Yield Sec reporting that 81% of the audience is exposed to illegal gambling in some capacity.
Even sweepstakes get hit
Yield Sec’s summary claims that this is “theft.” It also slams sweepstakes, prediction markets, and “social casinos” as a method of introducing gambling through the “back-door”:
“Legal Challengers & Innovators: Predictors, sweepstakes and social casino seek to introduce the online gambling which consumers know and love via the “back-door”, whilst creating challenges for legal sports betting and casino. These legal innovators also have their own challenges – from crime and illegals replicating their products.”
