PAGCOR reports record US$1.92 billion revenue in 2024

Ben Blaschke

30 January 2025 at 5:01am UTC-5

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Philippine gaming regulator PAGCOR has reported an all-time revenue record of Php112 billion (US$1.92 billion) in 2024, bolstered by the phenomenal growth of the country’s domestic online gaming, or e-games, segment.

Net income also grew by 146% year-on-year to Php16.8 billion. According to the regulator’s 2024 financial accounts, the new revenue record represents a 41% increase over 2023 revenues and eclipses the previous record of Php82.0 billion achieved in 2019.

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“We are proud to announce that our 2024 financial performance is the best so far in the history of PAGCOR, and we thank our employees and stakeholders for making such achievement possible,” said PAGCOR Chairman and Chief Executive Alejandro H. Tengco, noting that the e-games and e-bingo sectors contributed 50% of all revenue of 2024 gaming revenues.

“The continuous growth of the e-games sector is the key driver of PAGCOR’s record-breaking performance. It reflects the increasing popularity of digital gaming platforms and the transformative impact of technology on the industry.”

PAGCOR explained that gaming operations and license fees remained the primary revenue sources in 2024, contributing Php97.5 billion, while other revenue streams including business income and service fees added Php14.18 billion.

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The licensed casino sector chipped in 33.9% or Php33.1 billion while the agency’s Casino Filipino venues contributed 13% or Php12.7 billion. The now defunct POGO offshore gaming sector also contributed Php3.0 billion.

PAGCOR said that the significantly higher revenues allowed it to increase its contribution to nation-building – a fundamental requirement under its charter – to Php68.2 billion, up 37.6% compared with 2023.

This included Php46.3 billion to the National Treasury, Php4.87 billion in franchise taxes, Php1.09 billion in corporate income taxes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Php2.31 billion to the Philippine Sports Commission, and Php12.37 billion to fund socio-civic programs under the Office of the President, among other contributions.

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The Backstory

Behind the blockbuster year

PAGCOR’s record 2024 revenue did not emerge in a vacuum. The state regulator spent the past 18 months tilting decisively toward domestic online play, a shift that reshaped the industry’s economics and regulatory playbook. By early 2025, digital wagering had become the engine of growth: online gaming generated 56% of national gaming receipts in the first quarter, according to PAGCOR’s own tally, with e‑games and e‑bingo contributing 14.32 billion pesos out of 28.07 billion pesos in total revenues. That performance, paired with tighter cost control and higher net income, suggested the digital pivot would keep paying dividends even as traditional casino play normalized. The trend accelerated into midyear, when the online sector crossed a symbolic threshold, surpassing US$2 billion in gross gaming revenue in the first half and accounting for more than half of industrywide GGR.

Those figures underscored a broader rebalancing. Licensed integrated resorts and PAGCOR‑operated Casino Filipino venues still mattered, but the mix shifted. PAGCOR framed the change as both inevitable and manageable: technology was pulling play online, and the regulator intended to be an active steward of that shift.

Guardrails go up as online play surges

Growth brought scrutiny. PAGCOR tightened advertising and payments rules as volumes migrated online and public pressure mounted. The regulator signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ad Standards Council to vet gambling ads before they run, a move Inside Asian Gaming reported would apply across platforms. Days later, PAGCOR ordered the immediate removal of all out‑of‑home ads by online gaming operators and set a hard stop for primetime TV placements, Inside Asian Gaming reported.

At the same time, payments rules were overhauled. In August, the regulator delinked e‑wallets from online gaming platforms to reduce risks around affordability checks, anti‑money‑laundering compliance and consumer protection. Sector data show that reform produced a brief downdraft in gross gaming revenue in late third quarter as operators reconfigured systems and players adjusted, though management described the impact as transitional. PAGCOR Chairman and Chief Executive Alejandro H. Tengco publicly backed licensees navigating the stricter framework and said the changes would produce a safer, more sustainable market over time.

Revenue power meets fiscal politics

The financial stakes extend beyond balance sheets. PAGCOR’s higher take has become a pillar of state finance, allowing the government to widen public services without pursuing new taxes. In 2024 the regulator remitted 12.7 billion pesos in dividends to the National Treasury, ranking third among government‑owned and controlled corporations. Finance leaders cast those remittances as proof that state firms can help close fiscal gaps while political leaders weigh competing social priorities.

The dividend recognition dovetailed with a broader narrative that gaming growth—especially online—can coexist with tighter controls and still deliver cash for nation‑building. It also framed a political subtext: while lawmakers debated fresh restrictions or even bans on online gaming, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. notably avoided the issue in his State of the Nation Address, Inside Asian Gaming reported. That omission kept the regulatory pathway open for PAGCOR to continue calibrating conduct rules rather than facing an abrupt legislative clampdown.

Cleaning up the gray market

PAGCOR’s enforcement posture sharpened alongside its policy reset. The regulator has warned repeatedly that illegal sites and copycats jeopardize player safety and erode tax receipts. A recent alert spotlighted a fraudulent website impersonating the agency, complete with forged signatures and bogus accreditation documents. Authorities moved to identify the operators and take down the site. Just as critical, Tengco has emphasized that unlicensed competition undermines compliant firms by free‑riding on marketing and payment rails without adhering to know‑your‑customer, data privacy and responsible gambling standards. The industry’s transition, in other words, is being shaped by a crackdown on the shadows as much as by new rules for the legitimate market.

Short‑term friction, long‑term trajectory

The speed of change has created pockets of volatility. Even before the ad and wallet reforms took hold, casino operators experienced uneven quarters: combined GGR at Philippine IRs fell 10.6% in the second quarter of 2025, according to Inside Asian Gaming. The subsequent payments overhaul briefly depressed online GGR in August and September, PAGCOR said, as licensees rebuilt customer flows. Yet the broader arc remained intact. By mid‑2025, e‑gaming not only recovered but expanded its share, lifting industrywide GGR and pushing the online segment above US$2 billion in just six months. The message: short‑term declines are a feature of restructuring, not a reversal of the digital trend.

Operators have responded by diversifying channels and improving compliance tooling. One major licensee, for example, expanded cash‑in access via nationwide kiosks to offset payment friction as wallets were decoupled. Those adjustments hint at a market where user experience and compliance move in tandem, rather than in opposition.

What’s at stake next

The regulatory endgame is a stable, tax‑compliant digital ecosystem with clear advertising rules, firmer identity checks and reduced exposure to illegal outfits. The fiscal stakes are considerable: a larger, cleaner online base feeds remittances to the Treasury and earmarked social funds, while dampening the political appetite for blunt prohibitions. The commercial stakes are just as high. Licensees that adapt quickly to ad vetting, wallet separation and data‑security expectations are positioned to capture share as casual play migrates online and as physical casinos compete on differentiated experiences rather than volume alone.

In that context, PAGCOR’s record year reads less like a capstone and more like a starting point. The regulator is betting that a stricter rulebook can coexist with growth—and that public tolerance for digital wagering is higher when revenues are visible, consumer harms are contained and the gray market is squeezed. The next tests will come as enforcement actions broaden, ad rules bite during peak seasons and payment journeys stabilize. If early 2025 is a guide, the sector can absorb those shocks. The payoff is a larger, more predictable pie—one that finances government priorities while aligning a fast‑digitizing industry with basic safeguards.