Report Puts US Unlicensed Online Gambling at $97.4bn
US online gambling losses reached an estimated $125.6 billion last year, up from $90.1 billion in 2024, according to research produced by Gaming Compliance International for the Campaign for Fairer Gambling.
The headline figure is the size of the unregulated segment. GCI puts it at $97.4 billion in 2025, compared with $28.3 billion for licensed online gambling.
Illegal Growth Outpaced Licensed Revenue
The study estimates unlicensed online gambling GGR rose from $67.1 billion in 2024 to $97.4 billion in 2025. That represents annual growth of 45.2%.
Licensed online gambling also grew, but at a slower pace. Regulated GGR increased 23%, from $23 billion to $28.3 billion. As a result, the estimated illegal share of US online gambling moved from 74% to 77% in one year.
CFG argues that state-by-state legalization has expanded the overall online gambling market without doing enough to remove offshore and other unlicensed operators. Derek Webb, who funds the group, said enforcement against illegal businesses should take priority over further market expansion.
State Comparisons Show a Wide Gap
GCI also compares states through a measure it calls the Loss Ratio. It looks at gambling GGR per person against income per person.
States with both legal online sports betting and online casino gaming had an average ratio of 1.38% in 2025. States where neither product was legal averaged 0.44%.
The state results are less straightforward than the national headline:
- Louisiana had the highest ratio in the study and also the highest level of unregulated gambling spending relative to income;
- California, where online sports betting and online casino gaming remain illegal, recorded a ratio of 0.43%. GCI attributed all of it to unlicensed gambling.
- West Virginia, which permits both products, posted a higher total ratio of 1.57%. The report said 0.87 percentage points came from the illegal market.
The Numbers Need Caution
The research was commissioned by CFG, a group that has consistently opposed further gambling expansion. GCI has not made the full methodology or underlying dataset public.
That does not make the findings unusable, but it limits independent verification of the $97.4 billion estimate and the state comparisons.
What the Report Does Not Settle
The figures point to a large unlicensed market, but they do not show how much of it could realistically move to regulated operators. That will depend on enforcement as much as legalization. Payment restrictions, action against offshore sites, and access blocking may all play a role.
As of now, the $97.4 billion figure remains GCI’s estimate of the market. Other studies may arrive at different numbers, especially while the underlying data is not public.