A recent report from Gaming Compliance International (GCI), created for the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, reveals that the online gambling sector beyond regulation has generated €91.6 billion, marking the gross gambling revenue (GGR) from consumers across the 27 EU member states. This figure signifies a notable increase from the previous two years, which recorded €52.6 billion in 2023, translating to a 74% growth. Alarmingly, the report indicates that a significant 72% of this market activity is attributed to unregulated operators.
The report forecasts that by 2025, around 121 million individuals across Europe will be impacted by online gambling, with an indicated 88 million receiving content associated with unregulated gambling. Of those affected, a striking 91% have encountered promotional materials for these unregulated gambling services.
GCI asserts that penalties should not be exclusively directed at unregulated operators, as multiple support structures are complicit in this issue. Derek Webb, founder of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, emphasized that there is a visible enforcement failure within Europe. "€91.6 billion in online gambling revenue was generated outside the local regulatory perimeter in 2025. That scale should focus attention on enforcement – on operators evading local rules and the infrastructure that enables them to reach European consumers. The answer is not weaker regulation or tax concessions for licensed operators. Europe has an enforcement problem. Unregulated gambling operates across borders, platforms, and infrastructure while enforcement remains overwhelmingly national. A license ‘from somewhere’ is not permission to operate everywhere," he stated.
Ismail Vali, president of Gaming Compliance International and former chief executive of Yield Sec, highlighted the challenges facing regulators. "By the time the bet is placed, the battle for the customer may already have been lost. Unregulated gambling is winning audience attention before the consumer ever reaches a gambling site. You cannot optimize what you do not measure. Europe needs to see the whole marketplace – regulated and unregulated – and enforce across the ecosystem that sustains it.
