Americans wager an estimated $673.6 billion a year with illegal and unregulated online gambling operators, nearly one-third (31.9%) of the entire US gaming market (American Gaming Association, Sizing the Illegal and Unregulated Gaming Markets, 2025). In the legal market, US iGaming revenue hit a record $10.74 billion in 2025, up 27.6%, the fastest-growing gaming segment of the year (American Gaming Association, 2026). Across the Atlantic, the UK’s remote casino, betting, and bingo sector generated 7.8 billion pounds in gross gambling yield, up 13.1% (UK Gambling Commission, 2025). Globally, market firms peg the online gambling market anywhere from $88 billion to $117 billion for 2025, a spread that reflects how differently each firm defines the category (Grand View Research; Mordor Intelligence, 2026). This analysis consolidates data from the American Gaming Association, the UK Gambling Commission, the National Council on Problem Gambling, The Lancet Public Health Commission, GamStop, and 10 other primary sources to map the money, the players, and the harms of online gambling in 2026.
TL;DR
- US iGaming revenue reached a record $10.74 billion in 2025, up 27.6%, the fastest-growing gaming segment (American Gaming Association, 2026).
- Online casino play now makes up more than a third of US commercial gaming revenue (American Gaming Association, State of the States 2026).
- Americans wager an estimated $673.6 billion a year with illegal operators, 31.9% of the total US gaming market (American Gaming Association, 2025).
- Illegal iGaming alone accounts for roughly $466.2 billion in annual wagers (American Gaming Association, 2025).
- The UK’s remote (online) sector generated 7.8 billion pounds in GGY, up 13.1% and 46% of the regulated market (UK Gambling Commission, 2025).
- Global market-size estimates for online gambling range from $88 billion to $117 billion for 2025 (Grand View Research; Mordor Intelligence, 2026).
- An estimated 882 million adults worldwide (about 1 in 5) have gambled online (The Lancet Public Health Commission, 2024).
- US sports betting and online gaming operators spent about $3.9 billion on marketing in 2025 (American Gaming Association, 2026).
- Nearly 20 million US adults reported a problematic gambling behavior many times in 2024, down from 27.5 million in 2021 (NCPG, NGAGE 3.0, 2025).
- GamStop reached 562,000 total UK self-exclusion registrations by the end of 2025, with a 40% jump among 16-to-24-year-olds in H2 (GamStop, 2026).
1. Market Size and Revenue
Online gambling is the fastest-expanding slice of a record global industry, but its exact size depends entirely on who is counting. US iGaming revenue grew 27.6% to a record $10.74 billion in 2025, more than 10 times the growth rate of land-based casinos, and online gaming now makes up more than a third of the US commercial sector (American Gaming Association, 2026). Global market-firm estimates for online gambling span a wide $88 billion to $117 billion for 2025 because firms disagree on whether to fold in lotteries, poker, and sports betting, so any single market-size number is directional at best. The consistent signal across every firm is double-digit annual growth. Full US figures come from the American Gaming Association Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker and global forecasts from Grand View Research.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US iGaming revenue, 2025 | $10.74B (+27.6%) | American Gaming Association, 2026 |
| US iGaming gaming taxes, 2025 | $2.59B (+36.9%) | American Gaming Association, 2026 |
| Total US commercial gaming revenue, 2025 | $78.72B (+9.2%) | American Gaming Association, 2026 |
| Total US gaming taxes, 2025 | $18.1B (+15.1%) | American Gaming Association, 2026 |
| Global online gambling market, 2025 | $88B to $117B (est. range) | Grand View Research; Mordor Intelligence, 2026 |
| Global online gambling market, 2026 (projected) | $97.7B to $120.4B | Grand View Research; Mordor Intelligence, 2026 |
| Projected global market by 2031-2033 | $203B to $212B | Business Research Company; Grand View Research, 2026 |
| Global online gambling CAGR | ~11% to 12% | Mordor Intelligence, 2026 |
Divergence note: Grand View Research values the 2025 market near $88 billion while The Business Research Company and Mordor Intelligence sit above $107 billion, a gap driven by category definitions, not a data error (Grand View Research; Mordor Intelligence, 2026).
2. US iGaming: The State Map
Legal online casino gambling remains concentrated in a handful of states, which is exactly why the illegal market is so large elsewhere. iGaming revenue exceeded land-based casino revenue for the first time ever in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey in 2025, a structural milestone for the online channel (American Gaming Association, State of the States 2026). Only seven states run legal iGaming, and the top three carry almost the entire national total, so the market’s growth story is really the story of a few mature states deepening rather than new states joining. The contrast with sports betting, now legal in 39 states, is stark and is covered separately in our sports betting statistics. State detail comes from the AGA State of the States 2026 and CBS Sports.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| States with legal online casino (iGaming), 2026 | 7 (DE, MI, NJ, PA, RI, WV, CT) | American Gaming Association; CBS Sports, 2026 |
| Pennsylvania iGaming revenue, 2025 | $3.46B (+~28%) | AGA, State of the States 2026 |
| Pennsylvania share of national iGaming | 32.2% | AGA, State of the States 2026 |
| Top 3 states (PA, NJ, MI) combined share | ~90% of national iGaming | AGA, State of the States 2026 |
| iGaming vs land-based in PA and NJ | iGaming exceeded land-based (first time) | AGA, State of the States 2026 |
| iGaming share of US commercial gaming | More than one-third | AGA, State of the States 2026 |
| Michigan online casino revenue, May 2026 | $305.8M | SportsbettingDime, 2026 |
| New Jersey online casino revenue, May 2026 | $276.3M | SportsbettingDime, 2026 |
Context note: Pennsylvania has collected more than $4 billion from iGaming taxes alone since its online casinos launched in 2019 (AGA, State of the States 2026).
3. The UK Online Market
Britain offers the richest public data on any regulated online gambling market, and it shows online overtaking retail decisively. The UK’s remote (online) casino, betting, and bingo sector generated 7.8 billion pounds in gross gambling yield in the year to March 2025, up 13.1% and about 46% of the entire regulated market (UK Gambling Commission, 2025). Online slots are the engine: they alone produced 4.2 billion pounds of the 5.0 billion online casino total, even as new player controls trimmed average session length. The 34 million new account registrations underline how much personal data flows through these platforms, a theme in our digital privacy statistics. Data comes from the UK Gambling Commission industry statistics and its quarterly operator data.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Total GB gambling GGY, year to Mar 2025 | 16.8B pounds (+7.3%) | UK Gambling Commission, 2025 |
| Remote (online) RCBB sector GGY | 7.8B pounds (+13.1%) | UK Gambling Commission, 2025 |
| Online share of GB regulated market | ~46% | UK Gambling Commission, 2025 |
| Online casino GGY (slots 4.2B) | 5.0B pounds | UK Gambling Commission, 2025 |
| Remote betting GGY (football 1.3B) | 2.6B pounds | UK Gambling Commission, 2025 |
| Active online accounts | 24.4M | UK Gambling Commission, 2025 |
| New online account registrations | 34.0M (-4.1%) | UK Gambling Commission, 2025 |
| Online slots spins, Q2 2025-26 (avg session 16 min) | 24.4B (+4%) | UK Gambling Commission, 2026 |
Regulation note: The number of online slots spins rose 4% to 24.4 billion even as average session length fell by one minute to 16 minutes, following the UK’s new stake and session controls (UK Gambling Commission, 2026).
4. The Illegal and Offshore Market
The unregulated market dwarfs the legal one, and online is where it concentrates. Illegal iGaming accounts for an estimated $466.2 billion in annual wagers, by far the largest black-market segment, and the total illegal market has grown 22% since 2022 (American Gaming Association, 2025). Because online casino play is illegal in 43 states, offshore and crypto-funded sites fill the vacuum, which is why legalizing iGaming is framed by the industry as a channeling tool rather than an expansion. Crypto casinos have scaled fast on the same demand, though on-chain figures are estimates and should be read with caution. Sources: the AGA illegal-market report and the CryptoManiaks State of Crypto Gambling 2025.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Illegal US gambling annual handle | $673.6B | American Gaming Association, 2025 |
| Illegal US gambling annual revenue | $53.9B | American Gaming Association, 2025 |
| Illegal share of total US gaming market | 31.9% (nearly one-third) | American Gaming Association, 2025 |
| Illegal iGaming annual wagers | $466.2B | American Gaming Association, 2025 |
| State tax revenue lost to illegal market | $15.3B / year | American Gaming Association, 2025 |
| Illegal market growth since 2022 | +22% | American Gaming Association, 2025 |
| Crypto casino GGR, 2024 (on-chain estimate) | $81.4B (~5x since 2022) | CryptoManiaks, 2025 |
| Crypto casinos’ share of iGaming bets (estimate) | ~17% worldwide | CryptoManiaks, 2025 |
Outlier note: Unregulated skill machines, more than 625,000 now operating in US bars and stores, generated $30.3 billion in revenue and cost states $9.5 billion in taxes, a separate but adjacent illegal channel (American Gaming Association, 2025).
5. Who Gambles Online: Participation and Demographics
Online gambling is now a mainstream, mobile-first, and increasingly global activity. An estimated 882 million adults worldwide, roughly 1 in 5, have gambled online, and about 80% of US online gamblers use a smartphone as their primary device (The Lancet Public Health Commission, 2024; Mordor Intelligence, 2026). US online-wager participation held at 22% in 2024, well above the 15% recorded in 2018, showing the pandemic-era shift to phones largely stuck. That phone-first behavior tracks the broader patterns in our mobile app usage statistics. Data comes from The Lancet Public Health Commission on gambling and the NCPG NGAGE 3.0 survey.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US adults who gambled in the past year | 57% | AGA, American Attitudes 2025 |
| US adults who placed an online wager, 2024 | 22% (up from 15% in 2018) | NCPG, NGAGE 3.0, 2025 |
| Global adults who have gambled online | 882M (~17.6%) | The Lancet Public Health Commission, 2024 |
| Global adults exposed to any-risk gambling | 448.7M | The Lancet Public Health Commission, 2024 |
| Mobile share of US online gambling, 2025 | ~80% | Mordor Intelligence, 2026 |
| Mobile/tablet share of global online GGR, 2025 | ~57% | Grand View Research, 2026 |
| Europe share of global online gambling market | ~41% to 49% | Grand View Research; Mordor Intelligence, 2026 |
Survey note: The Lancet estimates 80 million adults worldwide experience gambling disorder or problematic gambling, concentrated among online casino and slot players (The Lancet Public Health Commission, 2024).
6. Advertising and Marketing
Gambling operators spend heavily to acquire online players, and the mix reveals their priorities. US sports betting and online gaming operators spent about $3.9 billion on marketing in 2025, but responsible-gambling programs received just $60 million, roughly a ninth of the $520 million spent on celebrity and athlete endorsements (American Gaming Association, Advertising Trends 2026). The lopsided split is the sharpest signal in the advertising data: acquisition and star power outweigh harm-reduction messaging by a wide margin. Even so, total gambling TV ad units fell 4% from 2024 as the category matured. The full breakdown is in the AGA 2025 sports betting advertising trends report.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US gambling marketing spend, 2025 | $3.9B | AGA, Advertising Trends 2026 |
| Television advertising | $1.42B | AGA, Advertising Trends 2026 |
| Digital performance marketing | $980M | AGA, Advertising Trends 2026 |
| Celebrity and athlete partnerships | $520M | AGA, Advertising Trends 2026 |
| Responsible-gambling programs | $60M | AGA, Advertising Trends 2026 |
| Gambling TV ad units vs 2024 | -4% | AGA, Advertising Trends 2026 |
| Sports betting ad volume vs 2021 peak | -27% | AGA, Advertising Trends 2026 |
Context note: Gambling ranked among the top five US television advertising categories for the third consecutive year in 2025 despite the volume decline (AGA, Advertising Trends 2026).
7. Responsible Gambling and Problem Gambling
The public-health picture eased slightly off pandemic peaks but stays elevated, and online is now the dominant reported source of harm. Nearly 20 million US adults reported at least one problematic gambling behavior many times in 2024, down from 27.5 million in 2021, while online-app issues jumped to 31% of problem-gambling helpline contacts, up from 23% a year earlier (NCPG, NGAGE 3.0, 2025). In Britain, problem-gambling risk concentrates sharply in the young: about 10% of adults aged 18 to 24 score in the problem range versus 2.7% of all adults. The engagement mechanics driving harm echo the loot-box dynamics in our gacha game statistics. If you or someone you know needs help, the US national helpline is 1-800-GAMBLER. Data comes from the NCPG NGAGE 3.0 survey and the UKGC Gambling Survey for Great Britain.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US adults with problematic gambling behavior, 2024 | ~20M (down from 27.5M in 2021) | NCPG, NGAGE 3.0, 2025 |
| UK problem-gambling rate (PGSI 8+), 2024 | 2.7% | UK Gambling Commission, GSGB 2024 |
| UK moderate / low-risk rate (PGSI 3-7 / 1-2) | 3.1% / 8.8% | UK Gambling Commission, GSGB 2024 |
| UK adults 18-24 in problem-gambling range | ~10% | UK Gambling Commission, GSGB 2024 |
| Gambling disorder among online casino/slot players | 15.8% of adults | The Lancet Public Health Commission, 2024 |
| GamStop total UK self-exclusion registrations, end 2025 | 562,000 (58,675 new in H2) | GamStop, 2026 |
| GamStop 16-24 share of new sign-ups, H2 2025 | 29% (+40% YoY) | GamStop, 2026 |
| NCPG helpline online-app issue share, 2025 | 31% (up from 23%) | NCPG, 2025 |
Trend note: In Great Britain, men report problem gambling at more than double the rate of women (6% vs 2.8%), and the youngest adults are the most affected group (UK Gambling Commission, GSGB 2024).
Summary: Online Gambling by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US iGaming revenue, 2025 | $10.74B (+27.6%) | American Gaming Association, 2026 |
| US iGaming gaming taxes, 2025 | $2.59B (+36.9%) | American Gaming Association, 2026 |
| Total US commercial gaming revenue, 2025 | $78.72B (+9.2%) | American Gaming Association, 2026 |
| Global online gambling market, 2025 | $88B to $117B | Grand View Research; Mordor Intelligence, 2026 |
| Legal US iGaming states, 2026 | 7 | American Gaming Association; CBS Sports, 2026 |
| Pennsylvania iGaming revenue, 2025 | $3.46B | American Gaming Association, 2026 |
| Top 3 states’ share of US iGaming | ~90% | American Gaming Association, 2026 |
| UK remote (online) sector GGY, to Mar 2025 | 7.8B pounds (+13.1%) | UK Gambling Commission, 2025 |
| UK online casino GGY (slots 4.2B) | 5.0B pounds | UK Gambling Commission, 2025 |
| UK active online accounts | 24.4M | UK Gambling Commission, 2025 |
| Illegal US gambling annual handle | $673.6B | American Gaming Association, 2025 |
| Illegal iGaming annual wagers | $466.2B | American Gaming Association, 2025 |
| Illegal share of US gaming market | 31.9% | American Gaming Association, 2025 |
| Global adults who have gambled online | 882M (~17.6%) | The Lancet Public Health Commission, 2024 |
| Mobile share of US online gambling | ~80% | Mordor Intelligence, 2026 |
| US gambling marketing spend, 2025 | $3.9B | American Gaming Association, 2026 |
| US adults with problematic gambling behavior | ~20M | NCPG, NGAGE 3.0, 2025 |
| UK problem-gambling rate (PGSI 8+) | 2.7% | UK Gambling Commission, GSGB 2024 |
| GamStop total UK self-exclusions, end 2025 | 562,000 | GamStop, 2026 |
Methodology and Sources
Data was gathered from primary industry reports, regulator filings and datasets, a peer-reviewed public-health commission, and market-research forecasts published between 2024 and 2026, prioritizing full-year 2025 figures and cross-referencing market-size totals across two or more firms where estimates diverged.
- American Gaming Association, Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker (2025 full-year data, released 2026)
- American Gaming Association, State of the States 2026
- American Gaming Association, Sizing the Illegal and Unregulated Gaming Markets (2025)
- American Gaming Association, 2025 Sports Betting Advertising Trends (2026)
- American Gaming Association, American Attitudes Toward Gaming (2025)
- UK Gambling Commission, Industry Statistics Annual Report (April 2024 to March 2025)
- UK Gambling Commission, Industry Statistics Quarterly Report (2025-26)
- UK Gambling Commission, Gambling Survey for Great Britain Annual Report 2024 (PGSI)
- National Council on Problem Gambling, NGAGE 3.0 National Survey (2025)
- National Council on Problem Gambling, NGAGE 3.0 Key Findings (2025)
- The Lancet Public Health Commission on gambling (2024)
- GamStop, Self-Exclusion Registration Data (2026)
- Grand View Research, Online Gambling Market Report (2026)
- Mordor Intelligence, Online Gambling Market Report (2026)
- CryptoManiaks, State of Crypto Gambling 2025
- CBS Sports, US Online Casinos State-by-State (2026)
- SportsbettingDime, US Online Casino Revenue by State (2026)
Data watch: Several anchor sources refresh on predictable cycles. The American Gaming Association issues quarterly revenue-tracker updates and an annual State of the States report each spring, so full-year 2026 iGaming totals are due in early to mid-2027, and it revisits its illegal-market sizing every few years. The UK Gambling Commission publishes industry statistics quarterly and its Gambling Survey for Great Britain annually, with the next PGSI wave expected in 2026. The National Council on Problem Gambling runs its NGAGE survey on a multi-year cadence, making a next wave likely by 2027.
Last updated: July 17, 2026. We review and update this page quarterly as new data is published.