GGR (gross gaming revenue) is everything players staked minus everything they won: the money the games kept before any cost comes out of it. NGR (net gaming revenue) is that same figure after bonus cost, payment fees, gaming tax and supplier royalties are deducted, which makes it the closest thing an operator has to a margin line. The distance between GGR and NGR is where most commercial arguments in this business begin, because no accounting standard fixes the deduction list and every contract writes it differently.
What GGR counts, and what it ignores
Stakes placed, minus winnings paid, over a period. A casino with a blended return to player of 96% keeps about 4% of everything staked, and that 4% is its GGR. A sportsbook reaches the same line as handle times its settled hold.
Gross is the point. It ignores the bonus that funded the play, the fee on the deposit, the duty the regulator takes and the share the studio bills, leaving a clean read on how the product performed. It is also the base most gambling duties and supplier revenue shares are written against.
The deductions that sit between GGR and NGR
Four appear in nearly every definition, each a real cash cost of earning gross.
- Bonus cost, net of what never converted Granted bonus value that became withdrawable real balance. Face value credited is far larger, since most is lost to wagering.
- Payment processing and chargebacks Deposit and withdrawal fees, declined transactions and card reversals, scaling with transaction count, not revenue. Your processing fees on deposits and withdrawals move this line.
- Gaming tax or duty The regulator's levy, usually a percentage of gross, though some jurisdictions allow bonus cost off first and a few tax turnover.
- Content and platform royalties Revenue share billed by the studios, the aggregator and the platform, quoted against gross, not net.
Others appear by contract: jackpot contributions, VAT, a marketing allowance. Affiliate commission normally sits below the line rather than inside it, since affiliate deals are priced off the net figure, so anyone running affiliate commission tracking should settle that ordering first.
Worked example: one month, from stakes to net
Illustrative figures for one casino brand, walking GGR and NGR out of the same month at ordinary rates.
| Line | Amount | Derivation |
|---|---|---|
| Stakes (handle) | 10,000,000 | Total wagered |
| Player winnings | 9,600,000 | Paid back to players |
| GGR (gross) | 400,000 | Stakes minus winnings |
| Bonus cost | -60,000 | Converted to real balance |
| Payment fees | -30,000 | Deposits, withdrawals, chargebacks |
| Gaming tax at 20% | -80,000 | Duty on gross |
| Royalties at 12% | -48,000 | Content, aggregation, platform |
| NGR (net) | 182,000 | Gross after four deductions |
Gross is 4.0% of stakes. The deductions then removed 218,000, or 54.5% of it, leaving 182,000: 45.5% of gross and 1.82% of stakes. Both describe the same brand in the same month. Change the rates and run these lines at your own volumes.
Why the deductions get argued over
Every line in that table hides a definitional choice. Bonus cost is the worst: one party means face value credited, another the portion that converted, a third conversion less what expired unwagered, and the largest reading runs several times the smallest. Royalties raise something circular: a provider paid a share of the net figure watches its own fee shrink the base it is calculated on.
Which is why a contract promising "15% of revenue", with no schedule behind the word, is a placeholder rather than a commercial term. Against the month above, 15% of gross is 60,000 and 15% of net is 27,300: the same sentence, more than twice the money. State which of GGR and NGR is meant, list every deduction in the order it comes off, cap the ones your counterparty controls, and name the report it is drawn from.
How an operator, an investor and a regulator read GGR and NGR
The operator uses both. Gross answers product questions: game mix, RTP settings, trading margin. Net answers budget questions: what a market is worth after tax, and whether a promotion paid for itself.
The investor works from the net line, closest to gross profit and therefore the one a multiple attaches to, reading gross beside it to see whether growth came from players or a renegotiated supplier rate.
The regulator generally works from gross, the reported base for duty in most licensed markets, which is why its definition is usually prescribed in licence conditions, not left to operators. Where promotional cost may be deducted first, the taxable base drifts toward net without being called that, so effective rates part from headline ones. See the market-by-market regulatory requirements.
What GGR and NGR get confused with
Four neighbours in the same vocabulary. The rest are in the A to Z of iGaming terms.
- Handle, or turnover Everything staked, before any payout. A sportsbook's handle is many times its gross win, so quoting handle as revenue overstates a business by an order of magnitude.
- Hold, the rate The share of handle kept once bets settle. The gross line is the money that rate produced.
- Deposit volume Cash arriving in player wallets. One deposit can be staked thirty times before it is lost or withdrawn.
- EBITDA or net profit Net gaming revenue still carries salaries, marketing, technology and licence fees. A brand can be NGR-positive and still lose money.
Frequently asked questions
What does GGR mean?
Gross gaming revenue: total player stakes in a period minus total winnings paid on those stakes. It is stated before bonus cost, payment fees, gambling duty and supplier revenue share, so it measures how the games performed rather than what the operator kept.
What does NGR mean?
Net gaming revenue: the gross figure after the direct costs of earning it come off, typically bonus cost, payment processing, gaming tax and content or platform royalties. It is the base most supplier and affiliate deals are settled against.
How do you calculate GGR and NGR?
Gross equals stakes minus player winnings; net equals gross minus the deductions your contract names. On stakes of 10,000,000 with winnings of 9,600,000 the gross figure is 400,000, and taking 60,000 bonus, 30,000 fees, 80,000 tax and 48,000 royalties leaves 182,000.
What is GGR in gaming, as opposed to in betting?
The same calculation with different inputs. In casino it is stakes minus wins across slots, tables and live dealer; in sportsbook it is handle minus settled payouts, reaching the identical concept through settled bets instead of spins.
Is gambling tax charged on GGR or on NGR?
Most licensed markets levy duty on the gross figure, some allow qualifying bonus cost off first, and a few tax turnover instead. Read the licence conditions of each target market before modelling, since the treatment moves the effective rate materially.
Which of GGR and NGR should a new brand report to its board?
Both, side by side, with bonus cost broken out on its own line. A single figure hides whether a change in margin came from player behaviour, promotional spend or a supplier rate, and those three call for different responses.
Where these numbers actually come from
A definition only helps if the figures behind it come out the same way every month, from one wallet ledger rather than reassembled from exports at period end. That is a platform question, not a vocabulary one, and the iGaming platform running the brand decides whether GGR and NGR reconcile on the first attempt or the fifth.
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