Illegals Reign Supreme Even After Legalization

The Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG) and Yield Sec (YS) today share a new report on the U.S. online gambling marketplace revealing $9.5 billion in illegal gambling in just three states — New York, New Jersey, and Minnesota — representing nearly a quarter of the total $40.92 billion in illegal gross gaming revenue (GGR) across America’s total online gambling marketplace. New Jersey was selected for its longest history of iGambling, New York for being a legal online sports betting-only state, and Minnesota which does not have legal iGambling.

CFG commissioned YS, an online marketplace intelligence platform, to monitor, analyze and assess the split of total online gambling share between legal and illegal operators. In their first report, YS data revealed significant dominance by illegal operators across the American online gaming experience. Today’s report follows USA Report One, which investigated the total U.S. marketplace and a special analysis of online gambling on Super Bowl LVIII.

CFG advocates for federal oversight of online betting and gambling, as data reveals the ineffectiveness of varying state laws in curbing the black market, with no state showing low levels of illegal gambling.

“The dominance of illegal online gambling operators remains unchallenged despite the expansion of legal gambling,” said CFG founder Derek Webb. “Sector-friendly legislation, regulation, and tax rates have not made much of a dent. Despite wildly different legal regimes, these three states continue to accommodate over 800 illegal operators who operate with zero regard for state law.”

“This is one reason why we need federal involvement in the oversight of online gambling. We are eager to equip policymakers with real, reliable data, so that we can have more informed, balanced debate, and ultimately smarter gambling policy,” Webb added.

“This data and analysis exposes a stark reality: illegalgambling operators are brazenly stealing money from state and federal coffers, and legitimate American industry,” said Ismail Vali, founder and CEO of Yield Sec. “It’s time for the federal government to end thistheft in broad daylight.”

Key findings:

• Illegal gambling operators usurp $9.5 billion from New York, New Jersey and Minnesota
• New York (legal for online sports betting only): Of the total online marketplace GGR, 49% ($3.4 billion) goesto illegal online casino gaming, with a further 27% ($1.9 billion) to illegal online sports betting
• New Jersey (legal for online sports betting and online casino): Of the total online marketplace GGR, 22% ($996 million) goesto illegal online sports betting and 16% ($719million) to illegal online casino gaming
• Minnesota (Not legal for online sports betting or online casino): Of the total online marketplace GGR, 38% ($929 million) goes to illegal online sports betting and 62% ($1.5 billion) to illegal online casino gaming.

CFG is an independent gambling reform group with deep knowledge of the gambling sector’s business and lobbying practices in both the U.K. and the U.S. CFG is dedicated to equipping policymakers with real, reliable data to foster more informed, balanced debates and ultimately smarter gambling policy. For more information, visit www.fairergambling.com or follow @fairergambling on X.

Yield Sec is a technical intelligence platform that helps monitor, police, enforce, and optimize the total marketplace across online streaming, betting, gaming, and lottery activity.

The innovative technology optimizes marketplace performance and activity, ensuring a secure and transparent environment. Yield Sec provides precise insights for informed decision-making, operational efficiency, and robust regulatory compliance. Yield Sec’s mission focuses on removing criminal threats to revenue, taxation, and consumer safety, benefiting the ecosystem overall.