Data shows India struggling to beat offshore betting sites
Data from India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology shows that offshore igaming sites are attracting significant traffic from India, despite the government blocking more than 7,800 platforms.
Ministry officials say that 242 illegal betting and gambling links have recently been blocked. Yet, many restricted sites continue to receive hundreds of thousands of visits from Indian users each month.
According to data obtained by Storyboard18, mirrored versions of igaming companies 1xbet and Parimatch received 228,000 and 300,000 visitors from India, respectively, per month between October and December.
Global betting company Stake reported 234.3 million worldwide visits during the same quarter, with India accounting for 13.5% of that traffic, second only to Canada.
A survey by non-profit group Cuts International also found that the use of offshore betting platforms grew from 68.3% before the igaming ban in October to 82% after it.
Daily engagement also grew. Before the ban, 3.4% of users visited offshore platforms daily. Post-ban, that figure rose to 42%, and time per gambling session increased, with the number of users who gambled for more than two hours at a time growing from 3.4% pre-ban to 44%.
Some legal and industry experts say that blocking URLs isn’t enough, warning that, without real-time monitoring, payment controls, and better regulation, enforcement actions by Indian authorities risk driving users to illegal sites.
The report comes after Google recently banned rummy and fantasy sports advertisements across its entire advertising network for campaigns directed at Indian audiences.
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The Backstory
How India’s crackdown collided with consumer behavior
India has escalated efforts to curb offshore betting, but user behavior and platform design are blunting the impact. Authorities have blocked thousands of links and warned platforms and advertisers, yet mirrors, apps and social channels keep redirecting traffic. The gap between policy intent and online reality is the through line: the harder the restrictions, the more agile the migration to new domains and alternative payment rails.
That tension sharpened after New Delhi moved to rein in popular real-money games and aggressive marketing. Industry voices cautioned the policy would not shrink demand but push it offshore, where consumer protections are thin and tax compliance is minimal. Early signals support that concern: traffic has flowed to mirror sites and unlicensed brands, and daily engagement has risen as users learn to sidestep blocks. The pattern tracks with how other digital gray markets react to blunt enforcement—displacement rather than disappearance.
A central factor is friction. Blocking URLs creates short-term hurdles but rarely severs access in a mobile-first market with cheap data and widespread VPN use. Payments are the other pinch point. Without tight controls on gateways and intermediaries, offshore sites can route deposits through informal networks. Meanwhile, legitimate operators and advertisers retreat to avoid regulatory risk, reducing the share of regulated choices visible to consumers.
The result is a policy paradox: headline enforcement looks tough, but the user journey remains open enough to keep offshore sites in play. That dynamic sets the stage for the policy debates and market maneuvers that followed.
Warnings of a ban-backfire, then a sponsorship shock
When India tightened rules on fantasy sports and online card games, critics argued the ban would boomerang. They said players would bypass blocks and take their money and attention to unregulated sites. In the weeks after the law passed, analysts flagged knock-on effects across sport and media as regulated brands pulled back. One early example: Dream11 exited a major cricket sponsorship, signaling a broader marketing reset and potential pressure on future media rights. The disruption was detailed in an analysis of how India’s online gambling ban could drive players to illegal sites, which also highlighted the risk that enforcement without alternatives would deepen the offshore channel.
The sponsorship chill rippled beyond fantasy sports, especially as digital platforms reassessed compliance risk around gaming content. Google later widened restrictions on rummy and fantasy sports ads for Indian audiences, constricting discovery for regulated products and inadvertently leaving more oxygen for offshore operators to seed links through harder-to-police channels.
The broader industry context matters. Before the clampdown, India’s online gaming market was on a steep growth curve, with some estimates projecting it could top $9 billion by 2029. Curtailing regulated growth without simultaneously choking illicit access risks shifting rather than shrinking the pie.
Enforcement gaps: ads, payments and platform accountability
A new report from the Digital India Foundation put numbers to those gaps, urging closer coordination among ministries, payment firms and big tech. The think tank said offshore sites use a sophisticated stack of paid ads, affiliate funnels, influencers and engagement loops to keep the pipeline full. It urged social platforms and search engines to standardize rules that bar promotions for unlicensed operators and to harden payment blocks. The report’s findings, including the scale of traffic to offshore brands and the role of social discovery, are summarized in the group’s call for stricter enforcement on illegal online gambling sites.
Ad ecosystems are a recurring weak link. Even after high-profile takedowns, new campaigns can reappear through lookalike pages, buried redirects or third-party affiliates operating across borders. A detailed account by Storyboard18 captured the enforcement treadmill, noting that while thousands of URLs were blocked, mirrored domains and social referrals continued to funnel Indian users to the same operators. Its piece on MeitY’s struggle to curb offshore gambling underscored how ad-tech and influencer marketing amplify reach despite takedowns.
Payments are the other lever. Without real-time interdiction and consistent blacklisting across banks, wallets and intermediaries, deposits can hop across new endpoints. Policy specialists argue that coordinated compliance—shared lists, rapid takedowns, penalties for repeat facilitation—has to complement URL blocks to make a dent.
Lessons from abroad: targeted, persistent policing
Some regulators are leaning on methodical, steady pressure. In the United States, the Michigan Gaming Control Board has pursued a case-by-case approach that pairs public warnings with cease-and-desist letters to brands soliciting residents without a license. Its recent move to target 12 offshore gambling sites framed the issue as both consumer protection and market integrity, emphasizing fund safeguards, dispute resolution and the consequences for noncompliance. The model relies less on one-time blocks and more on ongoing deterrence, naming operators and educating users about approved lists.
India’s market scale and cross-border exposure make enforcement more complex, but the Michigan example highlights three takeaways: sustained actions against named entities, public education on legal options and clear consequences for facilitators. Indian regulators are debating similar steps for platforms and intermediaries that repeatedly host or enable unlicensed gambling promotions.
Regional ripples: Manila’s hard line and evolving debate
The policy debate is not confined to India. In the Philippines, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has voiced concern that online gambling harms families and should face tighter guardrails, doubling down on a ban on offshore operators while weighing whether some non-scam igaming could exist under stricter rules. The administration’s review, and senators’ push for tougher penalties on promoters and platforms, reflect the same social and financial risks that animate India’s crackdown. The government’s posture and industry response were outlined in coverage of how Marcos warned igaming can destroy families. The debate also spilled into mainstream discourse, with statements reported by Philstar that online gambling is ruining families, underscoring rising political stakes.
The contrast is instructive: Manila’s stance centers on social harms and outright bans for certain segments, while India’s challenge is a porous digital perimeter that keeps the offshore channel alive. Both illustrate how enforcement needs to move in lockstep with payments, ads and platform accountability to avoid whack-a-mole outcomes.
What to watch: policy calibration and industry pivots
India’s next phase will test whether enforcement shifts from volume blocking to systemic friction. Expect more attention on payment interdiction, standardized takedown protocols with tech platforms and penalties for repeat facilitators. Policymakers also face a trade-off: if regulated supply shrinks too far, offshore demand may harden. Any recalibration will likely weigh consumer safeguards and tax capture against social risks.
Sports and media will adjust too. With fantasy and card game advertising curtailed, regulated brands are pulling back, while global operators continue to seed content through creators and nontraditional channels. In the U.S., sponsorships like BetMGM’s tie-ups with Playmaker HQ shows point to how marketing pivots toward entertainment formats when ad inventory tightens. Similar shifts in India could move budgets from mass ads to creator-led content—unless platforms broaden restrictions.
The stakes are clear: user protection, tax revenues and the credibility of digital governance. The outcome will hinge on whether India can close the gaps between policy aims and the way people actually find, fund and use gambling online—and whether the industry can adapt without pushing more play into the dark.
