What is iGaming? Industry, verticals and who makes money
iGaming is real-money gambling online: casino, sports betting, poker and lottery. How the industry is built, who sits in the value chain and how each side gets paid.
iGaming is real-money gambling played online: casino games, sports betting, poker, lottery and bingo on a website or app. The word also names the industry that runs them: licensed operators plus the platform, game, payment and affiliate businesses around them. In the US, legality is decided mostly state by state, within federal law.
What is iGaming?
iGaming covers any betting or casino product where a player stakes real money online and can win real money back. A slot spun on a phone, a live blackjack table, a parlay in a sportsbook app and an online poker tournament all qualify. Each has a stake, a chance of a cash prize and a regulator that decides who may offer it.
The word is used in two ways. Outside the US and across most trade media, iGaming is the umbrella for every online gambling vertical. US reporting often uses it more narrowly: the American Gaming Association (AGA) reports iGaming, meaning online casino and poker, separately from online sports betting, and far fewer states allow the first than the second. "iGaming states" in the US usually means states with legal online casino.
iGaming meaning and origin
The "i" is read as "interactive" or "internet". Pennsylvania's gaming law authorizes online casino as "interactive gaming", while the industry's trade body, the AGA, reports the same product as internet gaming revenue. "iGaming" works as shorthand for either reading.
iGaming vs video gaming vs gambling
"Gaming" and "iGaming" get mixed up, but they are different businesses. Video gaming sells entertainment: people pay for a game, a subscription or in-game items, not a stake on an outcome. Gambling means risking money on an uncertain result to win more. iGaming is the online part of gambling.
| Video gaming | Land-based gambling | iGaming | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Money staked on an outcome | No | Yes | Yes |
| Winnings paid in cash | No | Yes | Yes |
| Where it happens | Console, PC, mobile game | Casino floor, retail sportsbook, lottery retailer | Website or app |
| Who oversees it | Generally not regulated as gambling | Gaming regulator | Gaming regulator, market by market |
| Example | A multiplayer shooter | A slot machine on a casino floor | Online blackjack, a mobile sportsbook |
They meet in esports betting: playing the match is gaming, wagering on who wins it is iGaming.
The main iGaming verticals
The main iGaming verticals are online casino, sports betting, poker, lottery and bingo, and daily fantasy sports, with sweepstakes casinos and prediction markets at the edges. Operators group products this way, and affiliate programs price traffic by vertical.
Online casino. Slots, table games such as blackjack and roulette, and live-dealer games streamed from a studio. Instant-win formats such as crash games belong here too. A casino game's long-run return is fixed by its math model, so the operator knows its edge in advance. US iGaming revenue reached a record $10.73 billion in 2025, according to the AGA.
Sports betting. Wagers placed before an event (pre-match) or during it (in-play), down to microbetting on the next pitch or point. The return depends on how well the sportsbook prices each event, plus the margin it adds to the odds. Esports betting is a sub-segment.
Poker. Poker rooms host games between players and do not bet against them. They earn the rake: a small cut of each cash-game pot or a fee inside tournament buy-ins.
Lottery and bingo. Low-stakes draw games, instant tickets and bingo, often run by state or national lotteries.
Daily fantasy sports. Paid contests where players pick a lineup of real athletes and win prizes based on how those athletes perform.
Adjacent formats. Sweepstakes and social casinos offer casino-style games under a promotional sweepstakes model rather than direct wagering. Prediction markets sell event contracts, including on sports, through federally regulated platforms. Both are contested. In 2025, the AGA reports, five states passed laws explicitly prohibiting sweepstakes platforms that mimic online casinos or sportsbooks, and state and tribal governments in 16 states took action against prediction market platforms.
Who is in the iGaming industry: the value chain
The iGaming industry is a chain of businesses, and an iGaming company can sit at any link of it. Players see only the operator's brand, yet each bet passes through several of them.
Operators (B2C). The licensed brand that takes bets, holds player funds and owns the customer relationship. In US states that allow it, a license holder can contract partner brands, known as "skins", to run under its license, within limits each state sets.
Platform providers (B2B). The software that runs the operator's business, covered below.
Game studios and aggregators. Studios design slots, table games and live-dealer shows. Aggregators connect titles from many studios to an operator through a single integration.
Payments and compliance vendors. Processors move deposits and withdrawals. Identity, anti-money-laundering and geolocation vendors check who the player is and, in the US, that they are inside a state where play is legal.
Regulators. State gaming boards in the US, and national or provincial bodies elsewhere, license operators and, in many markets, B2B suppliers as well.
Affiliates and media buyers. The marketing layer: comparison and review sites, SEO publishers, streamers and tipsters, plus media buyers running paid traffic, all paid a commission by operators for the players they send. In a regulated market they need approval too: New Jersey and Pennsylvania, for example, register or license affiliates, and the type can depend on how the affiliate is paid.
What is an iGaming platform?
An iGaming platform, often called a PAM (player account management system), is the back office an operator runs on. It handles sign-up, identity checks, the player wallet, bonuses, responsible-gambling limits, game and sportsbook integrations, and reporting.
Operators can build their own platform, license a turnkey one and run it under their own license, or launch a white label: a ready-made brand on a provider's platform, often under the provider's license where the market allows it. In US states the closest equivalent is the skin model, and suppliers generally need state approval too.
Who makes money in iGaming, and how
Every business in the chain is paid from one pool: the money players lose.
Operators earn gross gaming revenue (GGR): what players stake minus the winnings paid back. It comes from the house edge in casino games, the margin in sportsbook odds and the rake in poker. The AGA's national totals generally count revenue before promotional deductions such as free bets, though states report differently. Out of GGR, the operator pays for bonuses, state taxes, supplier fees, payment costs and marketing, including affiliate commissions.
Suppliers are usually paid in one of three ways: a share of the GGR their games or platform generate, a fixed license or monthly fee, or a fee per transaction for payments.
Affiliates get paid by operators, and most deals take one of three shapes. CPA is a one-off payment for each referred player who makes a qualifying first deposit. Revenue share is an ongoing percentage of the net gaming revenue (NGR) those players produce. A hybrid blends a lower CPA with a lower revenue share. Some established sites also sell fixed placements for a flat fee. See CPA vs RevShare vs hybrid deals for the terms behind each.
Worked example: where $100,000 in stakes goes
All figures are assumptions chosen to show the mechanics, not benchmarks for any state or program.
Players referred by one affiliate stake $100,000 on slots in a month and win back $95,000.
| Line | Amount | Assumption behind it |
|---|---|---|
| Stakes | $100,000 | |
| Winnings paid to players | −$95,000 | |
| GGR | $5,000 | 5% of stakes kept |
| Bonus cost | −$1,000 | |
| State gaming tax | −$1,000 | 20% of GGR |
| Payment processing | −$200 | |
| NGR, the affiliate's basis | $2,800 | Program deducts bonuses, tax and payment costs |
| Affiliate revenue share | −$840 | 30% of NGR |
| Game studio fee | −$500 | 10% of GGR |
| Left for the operator | $1,460 | Before platform, staff, marketing and other costs |
Of $100,000 staked, only $5,000 turns into revenue, and that $5,000 has to cover the bonus, the state's tax, the payment firm, the affiliate, the studio and the operator's own costs. Tax rates differ widely between states and NGR formulas between programs, so the same players can be worth very different amounts in different markets.
How iGaming is regulated
There is no single iGaming license. Each jurisdiction decides which verticals are legal, who may offer them and how they are taxed.
United States. Legal status is set state by state. At the close of 2025, the AGA counted seven states with full online casino (Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia) and Nevada with online poker only. Maine's online casino bill became law in January 2026. Legal sports betting was available in 39 states plus Washington, D.C., after Missouri launched on December 1, 2025. In 2025, regulators in Michigan, Florida and other states acted against illegal offshore casinos and sportsbooks. See whether online gambling is legal in the US for state-by-state detail.
Great Britain. The Gambling Commission regulates most gambling and licenses the businesses that offer it.
Malta. The Malta Gaming Authority issues B2C licences for operators and separate B2B licences for game providers and back-office suppliers.
Ontario. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) regulates the market. iGaming Ontario, an independent agency since May 2025, conducts and manages iGaming offered through private operators.
This is a summary of public regulatory sources as of October 2026, not legal advice.
iGaming jobs and careers
iGaming jobs span the whole chain. In marketing, affiliate managers run operator programs, media buyers and SEO specialists drive traffic, and CRM teams work on retention. Operators and suppliers also hire for compliance and anti-money-laundering, risk and fraud, payments, product, and sportsbook trading, the team that sets the odds.
FAQ
What is iGaming in simple terms?
iGaming is real-money gambling done online instead of in a casino or betting shop, plus the companies that build, license and market those products.
Is iGaming the same as gambling?
iGaming is a subset of gambling: the part delivered over the internet. Land-based casinos, retail sportsbooks and paper lottery tickets are gambling but not iGaming.
Is iGaming legal in the US?
Whether iGaming is legal in the US depends on the state and the vertical. At the end of 2025, online casino was legal in seven states, Nevada allowed online poker only, and sports betting was legal in 39 states and D.C. Check the state-by-state guide before you promote an offer.
What is the difference between gaming and iGaming?
Gaming usually means video games played for entertainment, where money buys the game or items but is not staked on a result. iGaming means staking real money on a result online for a chance to win cash.
How do iGaming companies make money?
iGaming operators keep the difference between what players stake and what they win back, known as GGR. Suppliers take fees or a share of that revenue, and affiliates earn CPA payments or a revenue share from operators.
What does "GG" mean?
GG is gamer slang for "good game", said to an opponent when a match ends. It is not an iGaming industry term.
Sources
American Gaming Association, State of the States 2026 (data for 2025)
Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Interactive Gaming Qualified Gaming Entity Licensing Process (4 Pa.C.S. Chapter 13B)
New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, Vendor Licensing and Reports
Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, Roles of the AGCO and iGaming Ontario
UK Gambling Commission, About us
Malta Gaming Authority, B2C licences, Remote Gaming Services
Malta Gaming Authority, B2B licences, Game Providers and Back Office
Merriam-Webster, Popular Video Game Terms Explained
