Blask Report Reveals Dominance of Offshore Platforms in US Online Gambling
Offshore Platforms Lead Despite Legalization Efforts
A recent analysis by the AI-driven market research platform Blask highlights the continued dominance of offshore gambling operators in the United States, even after years of legalization and robust industry growth. Their 2025 evaluation of the US online gambling sector uncovers a vast yet fragmented landscape that is governed by a variety of state-specific regulations.
Significant Revenue Leakage to Offshore Operators
The US online gambling market offers lucrative opportunities, generating an estimated $79.8 billion in Competitive Earning Baseline (CEB) in 2025. This figure positions the US well ahead of other regulated markets, including the United Kingdom. However, this impressive number conceals a major imbalance between domestic licensed operators and offshore entities.
Blask’s findings indicate that out of approximately 362 operators serving American players, around 290 operate outside the country’s regulatory frameworks. Offshore companies dominate roughly 80% of the brands active in the US market. Consequently, only about $25.2 billion of the market’s revenue benefits licensed domestic operators, with the remainder flowing offshore.
This disparity is particularly clear when comparing states with different regulatory statuses. In states where both online casinos and sports betting are legal, offshore operators hold about 38% of the market share. In jurisdictions permitting only sports betting, that share jumps to 74%. States lacking any legalized online gambling see a full 100% offshore presence by default.
Several individual American states now rival the top global gambling markets in volume.
Blask report
Legalization Helps Reduce Offshore Market Share Over Time
Despite the dominance of offshore platforms, Blask’s study shows that the introduction of comprehensive legal frameworks can meaningfully shift consumer activity toward regulated options. This transition tends to be gradual, with no US state fully eliminating offshore operations yet. Nonetheless, thorough legislation has proven effective in significantly reducing offshore market shares.
Market maturity also plays a critical role. Newly regulated states often face challenges in directing player activity to licensed operators initially. Rhode Island, one of the most recent states to legalize online gambling, exemplifies this trend. While offshore operators still dominate the market there, the balance is starting to shift in favor of domestic brands.
Regulation tends to rebalance the market rather than remove offshore competitors entirely, shaping the distinctive structure of the US online gambling industry.
Blask report
Licensed operators benefit from clear advantages, such as the ability to expand their offerings and build consumer confidence. They typically invest in higher quality games, responsible gambling features, and targeted marketing that emphasize the benefits of legal gambling. This indicates considerable untapped potential in the US market, especially in states yet to enact regulated gambling frameworks.
