Illegal operators dominate Puerto Rico online gambling market, Yield Sec data says
Illegal online gambling operators control more than three quarters of Puerto Rico’s online gaming market, according to new Yield Sec data released as US state legislators gather in San Juan for a winter meeting.
Analysis by regulatory intelligence platform Yield Sec found that unlicensed operators captured 84% of gross gaming revenue from online gaming in Puerto Rico during 2024, rising to 85% in the first half of 2025.
The figures compare unfavourably to the US mainland, where illegal operators took 74% of online gaming revenue during both periods, according to a prior report by the business.
Ismail Vali, president of Gaming Compliance International, which acquired Yield Sec in November, said: “Unregulated gambling has now stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from Puerto Rican commerce and communities over decades – and it can be stopped.
“Change only happens through monitoring, policing, enforcing and optimising the supply chain that delivers the reality of online gaming to consumers and the revenues that currently accrue to unregulated and illegal operators.”
It was released to coincide with the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States winter meeting taking place in Puerto Rico today (11 December).
The briefing, commissioned by campaigner Derek Webb’s Campaign for Fairer Gambling, warns against legalising online casino products before disrupting illegal operators.
This is a different argument than is often made on the subject, with the legalisation of gambling verticals usually being tabled as a solution to illegal activity by industry voices.
Many gambling industry figures have historically been at odds with Webb due to his campaigning for major gambling reforms in the UK and US – including playing an central role in lobbying for the tax rises included in Rachel Reeve’s budget.
Webb said: “Puerto Rico casinos in hotels rely on business from tourists and local people. It would be a disaster for Puerto Rico tourism if iGaming was legalised and casinos closed due to local spend switching to online iGaming.”
The data shows that 941 illegal operators actively targeted Puerto Rico during the first half of 2025, compared with just six legal operators.
Combined illegal sports betting and casino revenue reached $75m in the period, while legal sports betting generated $13m. Puerto Rico does not currently offer legal iGaming.
Yield Sec highlights audience exposure concerns
When Puerto Rican audiences searched for gambling content online during the first half of 2025, more than 93% of what they encountered promoted illegal operations, according to the research.
The analysis found that 17% of Puerto Rico’s population, or 512,000 people, interacted with online gambling during the period, with 15% engaging specifically with illegal sites.
The report argues that illegal operators maintain advantages over licensed competitors through lower prices enabled by avoiding tax payments, unrestricted product offerings and more generous promotional spending.
As such, it argued against the regulation of iGaming to solve the channelisation issue, arguing enforcement should be prioritised instead.
Vali continued: “When legalisation and regulation arrived in the USA in 2018, it was meant to begin the end for decades of illegal online gambling. The hope was simple: legal, licensed options in each state would ‘channelise’ the marketplace and eliminate illegal gambling. This has not happened.”
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