iGaming is real-money gambling offered over the internet: online casino (slots, table games, live dealer), online sports betting, poker, bingo and, in some markets, lottery products. The term covers both the consumer-facing operators who take the bets and the business-to-business (B2B) suppliers behind them: platforms, game studios, aggregators, payment and identity providers, and affiliates.
Two things make it an industry rather than a collection of websites. First, almost every layer is licensed, by a national, state or offshore regulator. Second, money is measured the same way across the chain, starting with gross gaming revenue (GGR), which is what operators keep after paying out winnings.
This briefing maps the pieces. Figures were checked against regulator and company sources on 4 November 2026.
Briefing: iGaming in five numbers
- Great Britain: remote casino, betting and bingo produced £8.3 billion of gross gambling yield in April 2025 to March 2026, up 6.9%, per the Gambling Commission’s annual statistics.
- United States: commercial iGaming revenue in the seven states with lawful online casinos reached $10.73 billion in 2025, up 27.6%, per the American Gaming Association.
- Pennsylvania: iGaming revenue was $2.93 billion in fiscal year 2025/26, ahead of retail slot machines at $2.44 billion, per the state Gaming Control Board.
- Ontario: C$82.7 billion in wagers and C$3.2 billion in gross gaming revenue in April 2024 to March 2025, with 49 operators running 84 sites, per iGaming Ontario.
- Licence fees range from a few thousand euros to well over £1 million a year, depending on jurisdiction and size.
The verticals
| Vertical | What the player does | How the operator earns |
|---|---|---|
| Online casino (RNG) | Plays slots and table games driven by a random number generator | House edge built into each game |
| Live casino | Plays dealer-run games streamed from a studio | House edge; studio supplier usually paid a share |
| Sports betting | Bets on real events, fixed odds or in-play | Margin priced into odds, plus trading results |
| Poker | Plays against other players | Rake or tournament fees (operator is not the counterparty) |
| Bingo and lottery-style games | Buys tickets or cards in pooled games | Share of the pool or ticket margin |
Regulators often license these separately. Malta, for example, groups casino and live casino as “Type 1”, fixed-odds betting as “Type 2”, peer-to-peer games such as poker and bingo as “Type 3”, and controlled skill games as “Type 4”, with different fees for each, per the MGA fact sheets. Great Britain issues separate remote casino, betting and bingo operating licences.
Sports betting is sometimes treated as a separate industry (“sportsbook” versus “iGaming”, especially in the US where states legalised betting first). In trade usage, iGaming is the broader term, and in US reporting it usually means online casino and poker only. Check which definition a statistic uses before you compare it with another.
The supply chain
A player sees one brand. Behind it sit six or seven businesses, each with its own commercial model.
- Operator (B2C). Holds the consumer licence, owns the player relationship, takes the gambling risk and pays gaming taxes.
- Platform. Player account management, wallet, bonus engine, back office and reporting. Bought as white label, turnkey or in-house. See our platform providers comparison.
- Game studios. Build slots, table and live games. Studios supply directly or through aggregators.
- Aggregators. Bundle hundreds of studios behind a single integration. One example: SOFTSWISS says its Game Aggregator carries 50,000+ titles from 300+ providers. Our aggregator explainer covers the mechanics.
- Sportsbook supplier. Odds feeds, trading and risk management, either as a managed service or as a platform the operator trades itself.
- Payments, KYC and fraud. Payment service providers, identity verification, age checks, device and fraud tools.
- Marketing. Affiliates, media, CRM tools and agencies. Large operators publish affiliate programme terms with revenue share, CPA and hybrid options, for example bet365 partners.
Most of these B2B layers are licensed too. In Great Britain, anyone who makes, supplies, installs or adapts gambling software needs a remote gambling software licence. Malta issues a “critical gaming supply” (B2B) licence alongside its B2C gaming service licence. Gibraltar’s 2026 fee rules list separate fees for gaming aggregators, platform suppliers, direct-integration studios and outsourced compliance services (LN.2026/065).
One spin, through the whole stack
To see how the layers connect, follow a single €1 slot spin. The flow is a simplified, illustrative sketch; real integrations vary by platform.
- The player, already registered and verified by the operator’s KYC provider, opens a slot in the casino lobby.
- The operator’s platform asks the aggregator for a game session, and the aggregator opens it on the studio’s remote game server.
- The player spins. The studio’s server asks, through the aggregator, for €1 to be debited from the player’s wallet on the operator’s platform.
- The studio’s random number generator settles the round. If the spin wins €0.80, a credit call returns €0.80 to the wallet.
- The operator’s GGR on that spin is €0.20. The studio and aggregator will later invoice their share of the GGR their content produced.
- If the player came through an affiliate on revenue share, that €0.20 joins the month’s NGR calculation, after the deductions the affiliate contract allows.
- The operator’s tax return to its regulator includes the €0.20, calculated on the regulator’s definition of yield or profit.
Every arrow in that chain is a licensed relationship somewhere. Curaçao, for example, requires every game an operator offers, including third-party games, to be certified by a CGA-approved testing laboratory, and requires prior approval before a licensee works with platform, game content or payment suppliers (CGA licence conditions, effective 28 October 2026). In Great Britain, the Gambling Commission’s £4.75 million settlement with game supplier Evolution Malta Holding Limited in July 2026 concerned games that reached unlicensed websites accessible from Great Britain (UKGC). Regulators now look at the whole chain, not just the brand.
How money is measured
Three terms come up in every contract and report:
- Turnover (handle, wagers): the total amount staked. Big and not very informative.
- GGR (or GGY in Great Britain): stakes minus winnings paid. This is what regulators publish and what most taxes are calculated on. Our GGR explainer shows the exact formulas regulators use.
- NGR: GGR minus the costs a contract allows, such as bonuses, gaming taxes, chargebacks and supplier fees. Affiliate revenue share is usually calculated on NGR, and each programme defines its own deductions.
The difference matters when comparing figures. iGaming Ontario’s reported wagers, for example, exclude promotional wagers (bonuses), a note it makes in its own release, and Great Britain’s GGY counts a free bet as a stake only when the customer could have taken cash instead.
How iGaming is regulated
There is no single model. Four patterns cover most markets:
| Model | How it works | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| National or state licence | Each operator needs a licence for that market and must block other players | Great Britain, Pennsylvania and the other US iGaming states |
| Regulated market with a state commercial partner | Private operators register with the regulator and sign an agreement with a state agency | Ontario: AGCO registration plus an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario |
| Multi-market (“international”) licence | One licence used to serve several unregulated or grey markets | Curaçao, Kahnawake, Anjouan, and Malta for some markets |
| EU licence with national overlays | Licence in one member state, with separate national licences where a country requires one | Malta, often combined with national licences |
Suppliers see the market moving toward the first two models. SOFTSWISS, in a knowledge base article updated 15 October 2026, notes that national licences in markets such as the UK, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands do not allow white-label umbrella arrangements, so each brand needs its own licence. Curaçao’s reformed regime, in force since 24 December 2024, grants online licences to companies established in Curaçao for domains “owned or controlled by the licensee”, per the Curaçao Gaming Authority’s licence conditions.
For the fees side by side, see our licence cost table.
The main regulators, at a glance
| Regulator | Jurisdiction | Licence classes | Headline B2C fee (checked 4 November 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gambling Commission | Great Britain | Remote casino, betting, bingo; remote gambling software | Annual fee from £7,000, banded by GGY, since 1 October 2026 |
| Malta Gaming Authority | Malta | Gaming service (B2C, Types 1 to 4); critical gaming supply (B2B) | €25,000 a year plus compliance contribution |
| Gambling Supervision Commission | Isle of Man | Full licence, sub-licence, network services, software supplier | £36,750 a year |
| Licensing Authority under the Gambling Act 2025 | Gibraltar | B2C betting, gaming, lottery; B2B aggregator, platform, direct integration | £50,000 a year under £20m yield |
| Curaçao Gaming Authority | Curaçao | Online gaming licence; supplier licence | €47,450 a year |
| Kahnawake Gaming Commission | Kahnawà:ke | Client Provider Authorization; software provider and live studio authorizations | US$20,000 a year |
| Anjouan Gaming | Anjouan | B2C operator; B2B service provider | €17,828 a year |
| AGCO, with iGaming Ontario | Ontario | Operator registration per gaming site; supplier registration | C$100,000 per site a year |
Fees are from each regulator’s published schedule; our licence cost table links every source and adds application fees and taxes.
Who works in iGaming
The B2B side is where most of the jobs and most of the trade press sit:
- Operators: product, CRM, trading (sportsbook), payments, fraud, VIP, compliance, finance.
- Suppliers: game design and maths, platform engineering, account management, certification.
- Compliance and legal: MLROs, compliance officers, data protection officers and licensing counsel. Several of these are named roles that regulators approve individually; Malta calls them key functions and Great Britain requires personal management licences.
- Marketing: affiliates, SEO and paid media agencies, CRM specialists.
Trade terms you will meet
- B2C / B2B: consumer-facing operator versus supplier to operators.
- PAM: player account management, the core of a casino platform (accounts, wallet, limits, KYC status).
- RGS: remote game server, where a studio’s game logic and RNG run.
- RNG: random number generator; certified by an approved testing lab before games go live in regulated markets.
- Aggregator: a supplier that connects one platform to many studios through a single API.
- White label / turnkey: a platform run under the provider’s licence, versus one run under the operator’s own licence.
- KYC / AML: know your customer (identity, age, address checks) and anti-money laundering controls.
- MLRO: money laundering reporting officer, an approved role in Malta and a personal management licence role in Great Britain.
- FTD: first-time depositor. CPA definitions build on it; Betsson Group Affiliates, for example, requires a first deposit within 60 days of registration.
- Hold: GGR divided by stakes, the operator’s effective margin.
- Self-exclusion: a player’s request to be blocked from gambling, which licence conditions require operators to honour.
What to read next
If you are new to the business side, start with the revenue definitions (GGR, then NGR), then compliance functions and licensing, then the platform decision. Our trends briefing tracks tax, regulation and company results each quarter.
This site covers the gambling business for readers aged 18 and over. If gambling is causing harm, our responsible gambling page lists support, including the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 (free, 24 hours).