iGaming market weekly report | Dec 8-14, 2025

This is the first edition of our weekly Blask Index digest. We track where iGaming attention is accelerating or collapsing, using week-over-week (WoW) moves in Blask index.

Week’s headline

This week’s tape was binary: event-driven demand ripped higher in a handful of markets, led by Saudi Arabia at +270% as late-December Riyadh Season fight-week interest pulled search attention forward.

On the downside, regulatory pressure and geopolitical disruption dragged several markets sharply lower, led by Ethiopia at -40% on license suspensions and Thailand at -17% as the SEA Games cycle was eclipsed by the Cambodia border conflict.

Note: WoW changes reflect Blask Index data; catalysts cited only when publicly documented during Dec 8–14.

Top gainers

1. Saudi Arabia +269.8% — Riyadh Season card pushed fight-week queries.
   
2. Costa Rica +43.5%.
   
3. Mexico +22% — Codere CEO lobbied for online-betting reform.
   
4. Venezuela +16.6%.
   
5. Gabon +16.4% — Momentum likely continued from the Interior Ministry ultimatum forcing E-TECH integration.

Top decliners

1. Ethiopia -40% — Regulator revoked 22 licenses, chilling player discovery.
   
2. Azerbaijan -26.9% — Central Bank suspended payment company Paysis amid $100M illegal iGaming case.
   
3. Nicaragua -17.8%.
   
4. Thailand -17.4% — SEA Games (Dec 9–20) ran under the shadow of the Cambodia border conflict, with Cambodia withdrawing on Dec 10 and war coverage dominating the week’s news cycle.
   
5. Colombia -16.6% — Congress archived funding bill, prolonging tax uncertainty.

Spotlight: Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia printed the week’s largest swing at +269.8% WoW, a scale move that dwarfed every other market. Attention concentrated into a short-window, event-shaped spike as combat-sports headlines and ticketing/search discovery intensified ahead of late-December Riyadh Season programming.

Why it matters:

• Opportunity: Build Arabic SEO/SEM “odds / fight card / where to watch” capture pages fast.
  
• Risk: Volatility is structural in prohibition markets; conversion predictability is fragile.
  
• Watch: Pre-event momentum into Dec 27 can sustain elevated search share.

Regional snapshot

Latin America & Caribbean

Mexico rose +22% while Colombia fell -16.6% as the policy narrative diverged. Mexico’s reform talk created a discovery lift, while Colombia’s tax politics prolonged uncertainty. 

Forward signal: Watch Colombia’s next fiscal/tax headlines — the sector reacts instantly to “cost-to-play” framing.

Europe

Lithuania and Slovenia both rose +14% with no regulatory catalyst. The lift tracks to year-end seasonality — more sports viewing, heavier promo spend — rather than policy news.

Africa

Ethiopia collapsed -40% after regulator action against 22 operators, while Senegal slid -15% amid renewed attention on the 20% winnings-tax regime.

Forward signal: Any follow-on enforcement (additional suspensions, arrests, payment blocks) can create second-leg declines.

Asia-Pacific

Thailand fell -17.4% as the SEA Games (Dec 9–20) played out against an escalating Cambodia border conflict, with Cambodia pulling out on Dec 10 and security headlines crowding out “sports-festival” attention. 

Forward signal: With the SEA Games still running through Dec 20, any fresh conflict or security updates can immediately reprice regional search interest.

Next week’s watchlist

Thailand — SEA Games final week (to Dec 20) amid Cambodia conflict headlines. Expected impact: elevated volatility; downside bias if security coverage intensifies.

Colombia — Post-archive tax narrative continues. Expected impact: muted acquisition, potential partial rebound if “relief” messaging sticks.

Saudi Arabia — Pre–Dec 27 Riyadh Season ramp. Expected impact: sustained elevated discovery.

Methodology note

Blask Index tracks real-time iGaming player interest via AI-analyzed Google search data, updated hourly with up to 95% correlation to actual market share. WoW % measures momentum: positive = growing attention, negative = declining. The metric filters out noise queries (scams, complaints) to isolate genuine demand signals.