Hello, community! Gambling in 2025 is already here, but how did the previous year go, and what’s coming next? It’s safe to say gambling is now one of the most important verticals in affiliate marketing. Tons of high-payout offers + a multimillion audience = profit. And despite the crazy competition, even beginners are seeing success in this niche.
Today we’ll summarize how successful the year was for the gambling industry and what awaits us in 2025. Also, remember that at the start of the year we published a forecast about what to expect from gambling in Ukraine in 2024. Feel free to check how right — or wrong — we were!
Gambling in 2024: Highlights
Let’s start with some results. Updated stats are slowly becoming available for 2024 — and there’s a lot to discuss.
First, according to Statista, the total profit of the online gambling industry — which includes not only online casinos but also lotteries and betting — is estimated at nearly $98 billion, up $12 billion from the previous year.
Noteworthy: profit per user remained almost unchanged, and even dropped slightly in lotteries. But that was offset by growth in total user numbers — each vertical (online casinos, sportsbooks, lotteries) saw about 10% more users compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, iGamingBusiness paints a slightly different picture. Likely because their data covers the broader iGaming sector, which includes more markets than Statista’s data.
They estimate iGaming revenue in 2024 at $160 billion, with over 10% market growth. This also shows iGaming now accounts for over 25% of the global gambling market (including land-based casinos).
By GEO: 40%+ of players came from Europe, 24.8% from Asia, and 21.2% from North America.
Interesting: iGamingBusiness predicts that betting will become the leading vertical within iGaming, with a projected 10.8% growth over the next five years. Even now, betting accounts for over 33% of total iGaming revenue — and betting on races is gaining traction.
And finally, a few facts from the UK’s Gambling Commission (GSGB). They regularly survey players to better understand gambling habits — insights that can help you optimize your ad targeting.
In one recent survey of nearly 5,000 adults, 48% reported gambling in the past four weeks. However, 20% of them only bought lottery tickets — and just 28% engaged with traditional gambling (casinos or sportsbooks), with 17% doing so online.
The most active players were men aged 45–64. But excluding lotteries, the core gambling audience shifted to men aged 25–34. The main reasons people reported for gambling were:
- Wanting to win big;
- Entertainment/fun.
The next GSGB report is expected on February 27 — let us know if you’d like us to cover it too!
Gambling in 2025: What to Expect
Based on multiple reports, one thing is clear — the industry will continue growing. We can expect around 10% annual growth across all sectors: lotteries, online casinos, sportsbooks, and beyond.
Perceptions of online gambling are also shifting. For example, in Ukraine, we’re seeing regulation tighten with the shutdown of KRAIL, new limits, and daily caps. Meanwhile, other countries — like France — are considering legalizing online casinos.
There are also increasing discussions about regulating gambling advertising. So, yes — in some GEOs, campaigns may get harder to run. But this won’t affect everyone — only specific regions.
Still, plenty of markets will remain wide open — and new casinos are constantly launching. The opportunities won’t stop.
Bottom line: people will keep running gambling offers — because it’ll be just as profitable as 2024, if not more.
Conclusion
Gambling remains one of the top-performing verticals in affiliate marketing — and one of the most promising. Its steady annual growth isn’t just about stats; it’s your chance to ride the hype train and grab your slice of the profit pie.
Have you contributed to any of the stats we covered today, or do you prefer working with other verticals? Join the conversation in our Telegram community, where we regularly share insights about traffic arbitrage!
As always — yours truly, Geek!