The European Casino Association (ECA) has revealed that unlicensed online gambling operations targeting consumers across the European Union reached €91.6 billion in 2025. This figure represents an approximate 14% year-on-year expansion from the previous period, signalling a significant shift toward unauthorised channels. Presented during a high-level roundtable at the European Parliament hosted by Member of the European Parliament Lukas Mandl, the underlying data highlights that these unauthorised operations now command a major share of the broader EU-27 online gambling marketplace. Consequently, the research estimates that European Union member states missed out on approximately €22.9 billion in direct fiscal tax revenues throughout 2025.
The findings, compiled by Gambling Compliance International (GCI) on behalf of the ECA, brought together senior representatives from the European Commission, Eurojust, national gaming regulators, and the newly established Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA). The consensus among attendees underscored that individual national regulatory frameworks are increasingly under strain from sophisticated, cross-border networks that bypass local oversight.
Fiscal and Regulatory Implications for the European iGaming Ecosystem
The rapid expansion of unauthorised betting activities across the continent presents severe operational, financial, and compliance challenges for legitimate operators and state treasuries alike. The strategic impact of this market shift necessitates coordinated multi-jurisdictional enforcement rather than isolated national strategies.
- Severe Revenue Erosion for Regulated Entities: Licensed operators face intense pressure as more than 6,200 unauthorised digital platforms actively target European consumers without the overhead costs of local compliance and taxation.
- Urgent Need for Harmonised Enforcement: The cross-border nature of these platforms makes domestic blocking mechanisms insufficient, pushing the European Commission to consider widening Europol’s mandate to investigate multi-jurisdictional gaming non-compliance.
- Heightened Financial Crime Risks: Because unlicensed entities bypass mandatory compliance frameworks, they serve as primary conduits for illicit capital flows, prompting direct scrutiny from European anti-money laundering watchdogs.
- Elevated Operational Standards: Legal operators must distinguish themselves by doubling down on robust responsible gaming mechanisms and proactive regulatory alignments to justify protective legislative intervention.
Tracking the €91.6 Billion Shift Toward Unauthorised Platforms
The data compiled by GCI establishes that unauthorised platforms no longer represent a marginal segment of the European market but rather a structural competitor to onshore gaming regimes. According to the ECA framework, the legal distinction within the EU-27 is binary: an operator is either locally licensed within the jurisdiction of the consumer or it is operating without authorisation.
This growing volume of unlicensed traffic is driven by aggressive, borderless marketing campaigns and highly personalised promotional incentives that do not conform to state-enforced responsible gambling standards. The presence of over 6,200 active, unauthorised operators means that the majority of online gambling advertisements and content formats exposed to European consumers originate from entities lacking domestic oversight. For institutional investors and licensed operators, this creates an uneven playing field where compliance-heavy businesses must absorb high tax structures while competing against unencumbered cross-border entities.
ECA Chair Erwin van Lambaart emphasised the scale of this operational imbalance, stating:
The 2025 data from the GCI report leaves no room for doubt: illegal online gambling is a fast-growing, cross-border problem that puts players, especially young adults, at high risk, deprives societies of much-needed tax revenues, and undermines trust in the regulated market. Licensed casinos and their online businesses operate under strict rules and invest heavily in responsible gambling and anti-money-laundering measures. Yet illegal operators, often based outside the EU, can reach European consumers at the click of a button, without safeguards, without oversight and without contributing to our communities.
Cross-Border Enforcement and the Reshaping of Europol’s Mandate
As national authorities acknowledge the limitations of localised intellectual property (IP) blocking and financial transaction restrictions, the policy debate has moved toward centralised European intervention. The roundtable at the European Parliament occurred alongside active legislative discussions regarding the reform of Europol’s operational mandate. Expanding Europol’s competencies would allow the agency to coordinate cross-border actions against organised networks running unauthorised gambling ecosystems.
This initiative is mirrored by broader efforts from regional supervisors to curb unregulated financial instruments and speculative platforms. For example, the ongoing cooperation highlighted in the European gambling regulators’ joint statement on prediction markets demonstrates a growing institutional willingness to address grey-area digital products that overlap with traditional sports betting and gaming definitions. Observers note that without centralised data sharing and law enforcement powers at the EU level, blocking international operators that frequently shift domains remains an administrative bottleneck.
Financial Integrity and AMLA Oversight Alignments
The financial mechanics of the unauthorised market are drawing intense scrutiny from European anti-money laundering networks. Because unlicensed platforms do not enforce uniform Know-Your-Customer (KYC) or Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) screenings, they present systemic vulnerabilities to the European financial system. The active involvement of AMLA representatives at the parliamentary roundtable signals that online gaming compliance is being integrated into macro-level European security policies.
Regulatory frameworks are tightening rapidly, as evidenced by the AMLA’s public consultation on EU AML regulatory standards, which aims to unify compliance expectations across all high-risk financial and transactional verticals. Legal operators will likely see compliance requirements intensify as regulators seek to insulate the legitimate economy from the spillover effects of unauthorised capital flight. For executive leadership teams within the iGaming space, maintaining strict transparency and adapting early to these centralised European mandates will be critical to sustaining operations amidst a broader regulatory crackdown on unlicensed cross-border operations.