iGaming Market Weekly Report: April 20–26, 2026
Top 5 Gainers of the Week
Due to two separate catalysts, Colombia experienced a very strong global growth number for +49.3%. The first catalyst was due to the Constitutional Court ruling that tax refunds must be given to DIAN, relieving operators of the structural burden and restoring the usual tax model of 15% GGR, resulting in significant media coverage for the restoring of operators normal tax model. The second catalyst were numerous lottery events throughout the week (three regional jackpots amounting to over $10M) and having the largest Baloto ever (over $13.5M) resulted in significant engagement throughout the week. The combination of the two catalysts positioned Colombia as having the strongest overall market performance.
The Netherlands ranked second at +25% as a result of the April 21 announcement by the KSA of their annual report, which reported a reduced legal market, increased illegal gambling, and a continued downward trend in channelisation rates.
Illinois and Texas were very successful, with growth of +15.3% and +14.6%, respectively, as both states benefitted from the first games played in the NBA playoffs.
South Korea’s +15.3% growth was associated with Lotto Draw 1221 (April 25) where there were 16 first-prize winners. An additional contributing factor to South Korea’s increase in revenue was a normalisation effect as the preceding week had a dramatic drop in revenue from regulatory enforcement.
Top 5 Decliners of the Week
Thailand was down sharply at -21.0% due to persistence with enforcement activity. Multiple police raids on gambling activity, coupled with multiple anti-money laundering efforts, support an environment of suppression for a second consecutive week without signs of improvement.
Somalia was next down at -20.8%, as this represents a technical correction to the enormous rise of the previous week that was not explained. In the case of Somalia, where all gambling is illegally prohibited, and online gambling is used mainly through offshore channels, it is more accurate to interpret the decline as statistical drift than as an indication of a change in the underlying structural framework.
In Europe, the Czech Republic was off -18.2% as a result of the classic event hangover from the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals last week; because no similar sporting or regulatory catalysts occurred during this week of reporting, demand dropped down towards baseline levels. Similarly, Spain was down -16.5% after last week’s surge driven by Copa del Rey activity, which supports how event-driven demand can be only temporary.
Nepal continued its downward trend at -17.7%, marking four consecutive weeks of decline, and is reflective of the ongoing suppression associated with a growing regime of URL blocks of gambling websites, without any sign of future loosening of regulations.
Market Spotlight: Colombia (+49.3%)
Colombia was the top–performing market of the week, driven by both regulatory and lottery-related catalysts. The ruling from the Colombian Constitutional Court related to tax refunds created clarity regarding operator tax liabilities, resulting in enhanced overall market conditions and operator confidence in Colombia. Additionally, there have been several days of heavy lottery activity in Colombia due to both regional jackpots and major national draws.
Although the decision from the constitutional court should provide long-term stability to the Colombian marketthe lottery-driven growth seen last week will not be sustainable unless there are additional similar lottery events. The demand for lottery game tickets is likely to return to more normalized levels in the coming weeks, thereby making Colombia an important market to track for retention after the peaks.
Blask Index tracks real-time iGaming player interest via AI-analyzed Google search data, updated hourly and filtered to remove low-intent noise (scams, complaints). WoW% measures momentum: positive indicates growing attention; negative indicates declining attention.
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