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A report published by Gaming Compliance International on behalf of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling claims West Virginia’s online gambling loss ratio reached 1.57% in 2025, with 0.87 percentage points attributed to the illicit sector. The study also said illegal online gambling nationally grew faster than the regulated market.
According to the report, unregulated online gambling in the U.S. took in $97.4 billion from consumers in 2025 and accounted for 77% of the total online gambling market by gross gaming revenue, up from 74% in 2024. NEXT.io, which first reported the findings, noted that the report was commissioned and funded by CFG and that its exact methodology and underlying data were not available.
West Virginia was singled out in the state-by-state comparison
The report said states with both legal online sports betting and online casino gaming posted an average loss ratio of 1.38% in 2025, compared with 0.44% in states where neither product was legal.
West Virginia, where both online sports betting and iGaming are legal, was listed above that average at 1.57%. Of that total, the report attributed 0.87 percentage points to unregulated gambling activity.
The same comparison cited California, which has not legalized online gambling, at a 0.43% loss ratio that the report said came entirely from illegal play. Louisiana was identified as having the highest ratio of gambling spend to income and the highest ratio of unregulated gambling expenditure to income.
National estimates showed faster growth in the illegal market
GCI said the illegal online gambling market grew from $67.1 billion in 2024 to $97.4 billion in 2025, a 45.2% increase. Over the same period, the regulated online sector grew from $23 billion to $28.3 billion, or 23%.
Combined online gambling losses across both sectors rose from $90.1 billion in 2024 to $125.6 billion in 2025, according to the report.
CFG founder Derek Webb argued that legal expansion has not reduced illegal gambling and said stronger enforcement should be the priority. “Taking action against bad actors in the illicit sector is the solution and must be the priority for all stakeholders,” Webb said.
The report’s authors said further market expansion should be paused until stronger action is taken against illegal operators. However, because the methodology and underlying data were not made available, the estimates should be understood as claims made in the commissioned report rather than independently verified figures.
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Source: As reported by Zak Thomas-Akoo.
