72% of European online gambling revenue is unregulated
Seven out of ten euros generated by online gambling in Europe are produced outside the regulatory framework of the player's country. This data comes from a report by Gaming Compliance International (GCI), prepared for the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, which surveyed the twenty-seven countries of the European Union.
The progression is what is most striking. The GGR of unregulated online gambling increased from EUR52.6 billion in 2023 to EUR91.6 billion in 2025, a jump of 74 percent in just two years. This figure is equivalent to 72 out of every 100 euros in a European market valued at EUR128 billion, and all this activity occurs without a local license, without paying taxes where due, and without supervision from the regulator that should control it.
The central thesis of the study, however, is not about the bet itself but what precedes it. The authors argue that the enforcement failure begins long before the money moves, and that this is the most important warning sign.
Exposure figures support this argument. During 2025, 121 million Europeans encountered online gambling content, and 88 million of them saw content from unregulated operators. Among those who also actively interacted with betting, 91 percent of the content they received promoted the unlicensed sector.
What the report describes is not a collection of websites but an infrastructure. Affiliates, social networks, advertisements, search engines, apps, payment methods, inter-user messaging, and pirate streaming collectively form the scaffolding that allows these operators to find an audience, convert them into customers, and monetize them. Domains can move and sites can change names, but this commercial infrastructure remains and ensures business continuity.
Derek Webb, founder of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, was direct about what to do with this data. For him, the European failure to enforce regulations is evident, and a figure like EUR91.6 billion should focus attention on two areas simultaneously: the companies that circumvent the rules of each country and the infrastructure that connects them to the consumer.
He also highlighted what, in his opinion, is not the solution. Webb dismisses the two most requested solutions by the industry: loosening regulation or lowering taxes for licensed operators. His diagnosis points to asymmetry: the illegal circuit crosses borders, platforms, and infrastructures, while the law is almost always applied within a single country. He concluded with an idea that summarizes the sector's jurisdictional problem: a license obtained in one place does not authorize operation everywhere.
This data arrives at a time when the discussion about channeling is affecting the entire industry. Spain has just opened the reform of its gambling law, Brazil eliminated its regulated market by decree, and several Latin American countries are debating how much to tighten without pushing players out. The European report provides a concrete measurement of what happens when this gap remains open for years.
Tags: Unregulated online gambling, Campaign for Fairer Gambling, Gaming Compliance International, Channeling in Europe