A fresh industry report says unregulated online gambling has become one of the world’s largest hidden digital economies, with global wagering volume reaching an estimated $5.9 trillion during 2025.
Gaming Compliance International’s latest study, Online Gaming 2025: Global, found the market expanded from $5.1 trillion in 2023 to $5.7 trillion in 2024 before climbing another 4% this year. Researchers said unregulated operators now account for 78% of worldwide online gambling gross gaming revenue, while licensed operators make up the remaining 22%.
The company classifies unregulated gambling as offshore sports betting, casino gaming, poker, crypto wagering, and lottery products that continue targeting customers in jurisdictions where they lack legal approval.
“Unregulated online gambling is the world’s third-largest ‘economy’ after the USA and China,” the report stated, while also describing the sector as “the biggest form of cybercrime in the world.”
Growing concerns around global unregulated gambling
GCI said many consumers now struggle to tell legal operators from illegal ones because online gambling platforms, gambling-style entertainment products, and loosely regulated services increasingly appear together across streaming platforms, social media, and mobile apps. The report refers to this environment as a “White Noise Marketplace.”
Alongside traditional black-market sportsbooks and casinos, researchers pointed to the rise of “unacknowledged” gambling products. These include social casinos, prediction markets, sweepstakes sites, skins trading services, and TikTok contests that mirror gambling behavior without always fitting existing legal definitions.
The findings build on several recent studies tracking the growth of illegal wagering. A major UK study previously estimated that roughly £4.3 billion is staked annually through black-market gambling channels. In the United States, the American Gaming Association has also warned that illegal gambling now represents a substantial portion of total wagering activity.
GCI said illegal sports streaming continues driving traffic toward offshore gambling operators. The report claimed more than 80% of illegal sports streams viewed in the US and UK during 2024 and 2025 carried advertising connected to unregulated betting companies. Separate reporting on UK streaming activity found black-market gambling promotions appeared across nearly all major illegal sports broadcasts online.
Researchers also tied expected growth in 2026 to major sporting events including the Super Bowl, March Madness, and the FIFA World Cup, alongside continued regulatory loopholes and the expansion of crypto gambling products.
The report argues that regulators can no longer focus exclusively on licensed operators if they want an accurate understanding of online gambling markets.
“There is only one marketplace in a jurisdiction,” the report states. “Unfortunately, it features two industries: one regulated, one unregulated.”
GCI is now pushing for monitoring systems that track advertising, affiliates, payments, social platforms, streaming services, apps, and peer-to-peer communication channels used by gambling operators.
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