2025 has been an interesting year for sports betting, but now we have to prepare for 2026. The new year promises to be at least as epic as this one, but before that, it’s time for our 2025 recap.
The Nostrabet.com team has decided to take a step back and highlight some of the key moments from the world of sports betting in 2025. There is a good chance that you may have missed some of the things you’re about to read. That is why we want to walk you through them.
Women’s Sports Betting Markets Were on the Rise
We have discussed betting on women’s sports before, and every year presents more opportunities than the previous one. It’s safe to say that 2025 was great because women’s sports became more than just a trend in betting markets.
Nowadays, leagues like the National Women’s Soccer League, the WNBA and women’s tennis have become more popular among online sportsbooks. The leagues are becoming increasingly competitive, and the female leagues are growing in popularity. As a result, there was a surge in bets on everything, including individual performance props.
To get an idea of the growth, estimates show that the global revenue for women’s elite sports will reach nearly $2.35 billion in 2025. For comparison, that number was $1.88 billion in 2024, representing a 25% increase. Some of the leading gambling operators also reported a sudden increase in betting on the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025.
Everything signals that 2026 will be the best year for betting on women’s sports yet. We would not be surprised if bookies suddenly start offering a lot more options, especially in some countries.
Sweepstakes and Social Casinos Got Banned in California
California is one of the most important states in the USA because of its economy. When it comes to betting, however, Cali is definitely not the most adventurous because it remains one of the states where sports betting is illegal. There were several attempts to change that in 2025, but nothing happened.
To make matters worse, the local authorities passed a law in October 2025, and the state has banned sweepstakes gambling. In other words, locals can no longer access the different online and social casino-style operators that were regularly available. The ban will take effect on January 1, 2026, meaning people have just a few weeks to enjoy these platforms.
Since Cali remains one of the few states in the USA where online sports betting is still illegal, we expect the big companies to try and change that in 2026. There were several attempts from the likes of DraftKings and FanDuel to strike a deal, but it did not work.
Esports Betting Continued To Increase in Popularity
Esports betting has been on the rise for several years now. That’s why most of you are probably not surprised that it was a preferred option in 2025 as well. There are many reasons why this was the best year for the sport yet, one of which is the arrival of new markets.
Several countries in Asia and Latin America (especially Brazil) have contributed massively to the popularity of Esports. Brazil has a large Esports fanbase across games like Counter-Strike 2, and many of these fans place bets.
In terms of numbers, there are several reports from different operators about their esports betting revenue, and they are impressive. According to some bookmakers, they experienced a 60% increase in total money wagered on Esports compared to last year. Some even mention there was a 126% growth in the number of active players.
Overall, Esports betting is increasing in popularity, and everything shows that 2026 should be its best year yet. We will have to wait and see if this really will be the case.
Legal Disputes Over Sports Betting
Aside from being a year in which sports betting expanded to many new locations and jurisdictions, 2025 also presented its challenges. Some of them include the different legal disputes around sports betting in different parts of the world, including Florida.
In Florida, a legal battle ensued between West Flagler Associates and the Seminole Tribe. The latter had the exclusive right to offer online and retail sports betting in Florida, but West Flagler Associates was not happy, so it took the matter to court. The legal battle began in 2024, and basically, the court ruled in Seminoe’s favor. However, their opponents did not want to go down and asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed.
This is just one of the many situations where people had to go to court to find a solution. There were also numerous legal battles in countries such as Brazil, as well as several European nations.
Rising Influence of Online Sportsbook Partnership with Streaming Platforms
Another thing that 2025 will be remembered for is the growing partnership between sports and online bookmakers. One of the best examples is the integration of different live streaming platforms within the betting sites themselves. This is definitely not new because it has been around for a long time, but more and more operators are actively integrating the live streaming platforms. Before, people had to visit a third-party site to watch something, but this is no longer the case.
Speaking of partnership, 2025 was also the year when we saw a lot of people who livestreamed online casinos. Again, this is not something new because people have been doing it for some time now. However, 2025 was when we saw a lot of it than usual, mainly because of the numerous partnership deals of sites like Stake, for example.
Today, you can go to live streaming sites like Kick, and you will find at least a few different people doing this. We have even seen big global superstars like Drake, for example, who happens to have a partnership deal with Stake.
India’s Promotion and Regulation of Online Gambling Act
India may not be the biggest market for online gambling yet, but it is the largest country on earth. Many online betting platforms and experts expected the country to adopt iGaming and become a leading hub in Asia, but this did not occur.
2025 was an interesting year because the country implemented the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gambling Act. This meant that the country banned real-money gaming, including things like online betting, fantasy sports, rummy and poker. This law came into effect in August of 2025 and changed the gaming landscape.
Many of India’s major operators, such as Dream11 and MPL, had to shut down, resulting in job losses for many people. The legislation caused a huge disruption in India’s online booking market and raised concerns about the potential grey market risks.
As of today, India’s future iGaming industry remains uncertain because no one knows what is going to happen. Some of the companies even decided to file a petition in the country’s Supreme Court, so we’ll have to wait to see the results in 2026.
The Turkish Football Betting Scandal
There have been several big betting scandals in 2025, but the one from October 2025 is probably the most disturbing. The Turkish Football Federation actually announced that it had an internal audit that uncovered some shocking stats. Out of a total of 571 active professional referrers, more than 65% (371 of them) took part in some sort of betting activities. The investigation revealed that these people had some kind of registered betting accounts.
What’s even more shocking is that 152 referees were actually flagged for placing large bets. They even wagered on football.
Seven of these people were referees in Turkey’s Super Lig, whereas 15 were top-tier assistant referees. There were also a lot of regional and lower-division officials.
Just when you thought that it could not get crazier, the stats revealed that one referee placed over 18,000 bets in 5 years. 42 other referees wagered on more than 100 matches.
It goes without saying, but all of this activity was against the rules because FIFA and UEFA do not allow referees to place bets. The Turkish Federation had to take action, so it decided to suspend a total of 149 referees for around 8 to 12 months. Authorities also made several arrests and suspended more than 1000 players across different leagues due to the investigation.
Closing Thoughts
All in all, 2025 was an interesting year for online sports betting and everything else related to it. We got to see the opening of new markets, the closing of others, countless scandals, arrests, and much more. The good news is that the industry continues to improve, so we expect to see even more innovations and changes in 2026. Thank you for being with us, and we can’t wait to share more amazing details about our favorite industry.
No comments added yet. Be the first!