Blask releases 82-page report on the US and Canada iGaming market: offshore controls two-thirds of a $79.8B industry

Blask, the AI-powered market analytics platform for iGaming, has published its most comprehensive research to date: USA and Canada iGaming Landscape 2025 — The Offshore Reality. The 82-page report, co-authored with Steve Ruddock (Publisher, Straight to the Point Newsletter), is the first to quantify the full scale of North America's black market using behavioral data rather than estimates.

The numbers behind the report

The U.S. online gambling market reached approximately $79.8B in 2025, making it the largest iGaming market in the world, seven times the size of the UK. Despite the growth of regulated operators, unlicensed brands still control roughly two-thirds of total U.S. market volume by Blask's Competitive Earning Baseline (CEB) metric.

Offshore CEB grew just 3% YoY in 2025, compared to 20.6% for domestic brands — a meaningful shift in momentum, but not yet enough to change who controls the majority of value. Three of the top five brands by CEB operate without any U.S. license. Bovada alone — the market leader — has an estimated CEB of $9.23B, more than any country in the world outside the U.S., UK, and Canada.

What regulation actually does and what it doesn't

The report draws a clear line between regulated and unregulated state performance. Six out of seven fully regulated states (offering both online casino and sports betting) have tipped the balance toward domestic operators, averaging approximately 62% domestic CEB. Michigan leads at 75%, while betting-only states average 74% offshore — with players pushed to unlicensed platforms simply because there is no legal casino option.

"Without casino, offshore fills the gap," the report concludes. Of 24 states with legal betting but no licensed online casino, only two — Maryland and Arizona — have achieved domestic CEB above 40%.

California and Texas remain the largest untapped prizes. Together they represent nearly $10B in CEB, entirely offshore. As standalone countries, California would rank 8th globally by CEB, Texas 9th.

New Jersey offers the clearest proof of what long-term regulation achieves. Twelve years after legal online casino launch, domestic brands capture approximately 73% of the state's market. When New Jersey legalized sportsbooks in 2018, Bovada and BetOnline saw immediate, permanent BAP declines — neither has recovered.

Canada: offshore is pulling ahead

Canada's online gambling market reached approximately $9.5B in 2025, ranking third globally and posting the highest year-over-year growth rate among the world's top five markets. Unlike the U.S., where the domestic segment is closing the gap, in Canada the offshore segment is widening its lead: offshore CEB grew 40% year-over-year versus 23% for domestic brands.

Ontario stands alone as proof that open market regulation works. Licensed brands now capture approximately 85% of the province's online gambling market — the highest regulated share in Canada. Alberta, currently at 88% offshore under a monopoly model, passed Bill 48 in May 2025 to create an Ontario-style open market. The full impact will take years to measure.

Prediction markets: the breakout vertical

The report dedicates a full chapter to prediction markets. After peaking at an all-time high Blask Index in November 2024 during the U.S. presidential election, the category collapsed 92% month-over-month in December. But 2025 brought a structural shift: Kalshi's entry into sports prediction markets pushed the Blask Index up 256% from January to December. The vertical is now building sustainable momentum beyond one-off political events, rapidly consolidating around Polymarket and Kalshi.

The full USA and Canada iGaming Landscape 2025 report is available to download at blask.com/reports/usa-canada-2025.

About Blask

Blask is an AI-powered platform for iGaming and gambling market analytics. The company turns fragmented open-source signals into real-time insight on brand visibility, player demand, and baseline revenue metrics, helping teams move first, spend smarter, and reduce risk across global markets.