NGR (net gaming revenue)
NGR, or net gaming revenue, is the money a gambling operator keeps from players’ stakes once winnings have been paid out and a defined list of deductions, usually bonus cost and gaming taxes, has been taken off. It starts from gross gaming revenue (GGR), which is simply stakes minus winnings. No accounting standard fixes what else comes off, so the figure only means something when you know which deductions the operator or contract has used.
How NGR is calculated
The base formula is NGR = GGR – deductions, where GGR is total stakes minus player winnings over the same period.
Bonus cost and gaming duty are the deductions that appear most often, and many contracts also take off payment fees, chargebacks, jackpot contributions and game supplier fees. Take stakes of €1,000,000 against winnings of €920,000: GGR is €80,000, and deducting €12,000 of bonuses, €10,000 of duty and €8,000 of fees leaves NGR of €50,000.
The list varies by operator and by contract, which is why two operators with identical GGR can publish different NGR for the same month.
NGR compared with GGR
The term NGR is most often confused with is GGR, and the two answer different questions about the same money.
GGR | NGR |
|---|---|
| Stakes minus player winnings | GGR minus a stated list of deductions |
| Same meaning across operators | Meaning set by each contract or report |
| Ignores bonus and tax cost | Shows revenue after bonus and tax |
| Rarely used for affiliate pay | Common base for revenue-share deals |
Where Irish readers meet NGR
Players rarely see NGR on a casino site, but it shapes what they are offered, because affiliate revenue-share deals and supplier contracts are commonly paid as a percentage of it, so every bonus an operator hands out lowers the base those partners are paid on.
Irish betting duty does not work from NGR at all. Revenue charges licensed bookmakers 2% on the amount of every bet, a turnover tax, while betting exchanges pay 25% on their commission.
A duty line inside an operator’s NGR therefore depends on which jurisdictions it reports from.
