The past year has seen a wealth of hair-raising statistics regarding the rise of offshore gaming in response to an ever-stricter regulatory environment. In February, the Betting and Gaming Council (which represents 90% of legal UK operators) commissioned research on the European and UK offshore landscape. In December, the American Gambling Association released its latest data detailing offshore gaming in the USA.

Both reports revealed that large amounts of revenue are being spent at offshore gambling sites rather than in the formal economy. PwC, who researched on behalf of the BGC, even went as far as to conclude, “whilst it is not possible to isolate the impact of individual regulatory characteristics, the assessment suggests that jurisdictions with a higher unlicensed market share tend to exhibit one or more restrictive regulatory or licensing characteristics.”