The global gambling market was worth some $540 billion in 2024, and experts estimate that’s only going to grow by the end of 2025. That puts it in a comparable tier with video streaming and sports as one of the biggest global entertainment business sectors. In comparison, the total global videogame market is worth around $189 billion and the movie business around $136 billion. So, who are the gambling world’s major players?
From the biggest Canadian provincial lottery operator, to a Las Vegas-based gambling and hospitality giant, or two multinational online gambling operators that got to the top of their game, these companies all make billions of dollars a year and employ tens of thousands of people between them. Welcome, to the incredible scale of four of the biggest global gambling businesses.
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation is Canada’s Biggest Gambling Business
Canada has had legal casino gambling for several decades now, although each province has its own government-backed operator that runs most of the services. Even when external operators come into Canada, they have to work with the government Lotteries in some fashion.
In Ontario, that is the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation or OLGC. It had revenues of around $4.7 billion in 2023, and runs dozens of different gambling businesses across Canada’s most populous province. Even independent online casinos have to have a license with the OLGC to operate in Ontario.
Although it is the biggest Canadian gambling business, the OLGC actually has increasing competition. If you want a low minimum deposit casino in Ontario, here’s a great option for you. Try out awesome casino games from top global providers without risking a significant deposit, and get great welcome offers, bonuses and rewards while you’re at it. Simple.
Just some of the types of gambling the OLGC has at least a hand in offering include:
- Land-based casinos – 27 of them in Ontario
- Physical and online lottery sales
- Casino-style online games
- Online sports betting
- Online and physical bingo
MGM Resorts International is an American Hospitality Giant
MGM Resorts International is, by most scales, the biggest gambling company in the world. The Las Vegas-based giant casino resort operator is the only gambling operation regularly in the top places of business magazine Forbes’ annual Fortune 2000 list of the very biggest companies globally.
Just some of the casinos it operates worldwide include:
- MGM Grand Las Vegas
- MGM Cotai in Macau
- The Bellagio Las Vegas
- MGM National Harbor in Maryland
- Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey
- An in-progress MGM Osaka, Japan
MGM made $17.2 billion in revenue across 2024, consolidating its place at the top of the list of global gambling businesses. In recent years its BetMGM online casino and sportsbook brand has expanded across legal US markets and into Europe, with much success. Although only just profitable in 2024, the digital business has seen huge growth and is expected to deliver serious returns by the end of 2025.
Flutter Entertainment is a Global Betting Conglomerate
Flutter Entertainment is a conglomerate of British, American, Irish and European online gambling operators, that came together in a 2019 mega-merger worth $10 billion. The two main groups were British/Irish bookmakers Paddy Power-Betfair and online poker giant Stars Group, owner of PokerStars.
Formerly headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and listed on the UK stock exchange, Flutter is now-based in New York and listed on Wall Street. The giant gambling operator pivoted to the US after the huge success of Scottish-founded brand FanDuel in the fast-growing legal US sports betting market.
Today multibillion dollar FanDuel is Flutter’s biggest revenue driver, but it also owns:
- Paddy Power
- Sky Betting and Gaming
- Betfair
- PokerStars
- SportsBet
Flutter made $14.9 billion in revenue across its various operations in 2024. It is expected to make around $16 billion in 2025, according to internal projections.
Las Vegas Sands is not Actually Based in Vegas
For the last operator on this list, we have another US-based casino resort giant. But this one doesn’t actually have any casinos in America at all.
Despite the name, Nevada-based Las Vegas Sands sold up all of its US casino interests in 2020, shortly after the death of its founder and former long-term CEO Sheldon Adelson.
Today Sands focuses on the Asian gambling market, and very much goes for quality over quantity. It only owns six casinos, five in Macau and one in Singapore, yet it still brings in $11 billion a year in revenue.
Its palatial luxury casinos in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau bring in billions each – with The Venetian Macau alone making $3.6 billion in 2024.
Sands’ Marina Bay Sands in Singapore is also one of most striking buildings in the world, let alone just casinos, with its distinctive boat-shaped sky bridge between two giant hotel towers.
Interestingly, Sands has been plotting a US casino comeback for a while – but it has yet to emerge. The company spent millions on a New York City casino resort application and also on lobbying politicians to get legal casino gambling in Texas.
Neither of which panned out. Yet, with its Asian operations, it remains comfortably one of the top global gambling operators.
