Unlicensed operators took €91.6bn in GGR from EU players in 2025, or 72% of the region's online gambling market. Total market GGR reached €128bn. The figures come from a Gaming Compliance International report commissioned by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling.
GGR from unlicensed operators across 27 EU member states rose 74%, from €52.6bn in 2023 to €91.6bn in 2025. The unregulated share climbed from 67% to 72%. Tax authorities missed out on roughly €22bn. GCI identified 6,238 unlicensed operators and 17,501 affiliates actively targeting EU audiences.
121 million Europeans saw online casino content, 88 million of them through unlicensed sites. Among users who engage with gambling content, 91% encounter promotions for unregulated offers. Traffic routes extend beyond operator domains: affiliates, social platforms, search engines, apps, payment services and illegal sports streams all feed the grey market.
Unlicensed advertising appears in all 27 EU jurisdictions. GCI describes these campaigns as "hidden advertising" that sidesteps platform controls. 95% of illegal World Cup streams in Europe carried ads for casinos unlicensed in the viewer's country.
GCI urges regulators to shift from blocking individual domains to controlling the wider ecosystem—search, social media, affiliates, ad networks, streams and payment rails. Derek Webb, founder of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, said the problem is weak enforcement, not lenient rules. Ismail Vali, GCI president, added that six thousand operators are not six thousand problems: they share infrastructure, and that infrastructure needs a system-level response.
