As Indian Cricket Pinnacle Approaches, Illegal Market Surges Past $100B

Cricket is the national pastime in India, and the Indian Premier League is one of the most-watched sports events in the world. It is also one of the most heavily wagered events inside the country despite the fact that there are no regulated sports betting sites in India.

New Report Suggests Black Market for Cricket Betting Worth $100B

This pins the value of the secondary market at an estimated $100 billion, with an annual growth rate of 30%, according to research released by the Digital India Foundation. The report is not able to use exact data from gambling websites, as they do not provide it openly, but it is extrapolated from Internet traffic numbers.

For example, the company estimates that between October and December 2024, Stake, 1xBet, Battery Bet and Parimatch have received a combined total of 1.6 billion Internet visits. The company further noted that Facebook, Telegram, and Meta (which is the parent company of Facebook) helped contribute 42.8 million visits to the aforementioned gambling sites.

Digital India Foundation founder Arvind Gupta spoke to CNBC-TV and expressed skepticism about allowing such practices to continue, citing concerns over money laundering and responsible gambling.

Although many of the aforementioned brands are, in fact, regulated, trusted, and reputable entities in other jurisdictions, they are not directly regulated in the Indian market, benefiting instead from the lack of concrete rules in the market.

In general, offshore gambling is not a good idea, Gupta cautioned, as many Indian nationals fall victims to predatory websites and practices that jeopardize their personal and financial data. Gupta stopped short of suggesting that the websites named in the report engaged in such practices themselves.

Digital Companies Continue to Drive Traffic Towards Gambling Sites

However, he noted that Meta is hosting a number of gambling-related ads through its platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, and is helping contribute to the traffic driven towards websites that are unlicensed in India, and practically cannot be due to local regulation, but still offer wagers on Indian cricket and accept deposits from Indian nationals based in the country.

The new report comes at a time when other global digital companies are tightening their regulation and policies of gambling content. YouTube said that it will be restricting content that has to do with “unapproved” gambling sites in mid-March in a bid to boost compliance and protect consumers further.

It’s worth noting that sports gambling falls in a legal grey area, so any claims that offering sports wagers and accepting money from Indian customers is “illegal” ought to be taken with a grain of salt.