Online Betting in Kazakhstan Grew Tenfold: What Is Happening to the Market

Online betting has become the driving force behind Kazakhstan's iGaming market. In 2025, the volume of online betting services surged from 34.8 billion to 370.5 billion tenge, a more than tenfold increase, with the segment's share of the total market rising from 6% to 62.6%.

At first glance, it looks like Kazakhstan has just lived through a demand explosion. But behind those numbers lies a more tangled process: turnover shifting between statistical categories, players migrating to digital products, local bookmaker platforms gaining ground, and mounting pressure on the unlicensed segment.

For affiliates, this is no longer an "easy" emerging GEO. The market has grown bigger, but so have the demands around licensing, advertising, player identification, traffic sources, and the quality of the users being acquired.

iGaming in Kazakhstan: The Market in Numbers

In 2025, the volume of gambling and betting services in Kazakhstan reached 592.2 billion tenge. Growth came in at just 1.9%, yet the market's structure shifted dramatically.

According to Kazakhstan's Bureau of National Statistics, as published by Business FM and Focus Gaming News.

So the overall market barely grew, yet a massive shift took place within it. Online betting became the largest category, while part of the former "other betting" volume was reallocated into a separate statistical group.

This is an important caveat. The jump from 34.8 billion to 370.5 billion tenge does not necessarily mean players placed ten times as many new bets. The dynamic was shaped by both a genuine shift online and changes in how services are recorded and classified.

Betting Growth in Kazakhstan: Causes and Underlying Factors

The sharp rise in online betting in Kazakhstan cannot be explained simply by users placing bets more often: it is important to factor in the shift to digital products and the possible reallocation of services between statistical categories. What role did mobile payments, interest in sports, and the growth of local bookmakers play, and why does a tenfold increase in the metric not necessarily mean a matching surge in real demand?

The Shift to Digital

Kazakh users have long been comfortable with mobile banking, apps, and instant payments. Placing a bet via smartphone is far more convenient than visiting an offline outlet: no need to travel to a bookmaker's shop, wait for settlement, or handle cash.

The main driver was a combination of:

• widespread smartphone adoption;
• the spread of mobile internet;
• a habit of using banking apps;
• tenge support;
• the growth of local payment solutions;
• the availability of live betting;
• an expanding sportsbook line.

For bookmakers, the digital product is also more convenient. It makes it possible to collect data on customer behavior, run CRM communications, manage bonuses, and personalize offers within the bounds of the law.

Growing Interest in Sports

Kazakh audiences actively follow football, hockey, boxing, MMA, and tennis. The biggest draws tend to be:

• the Kazakhstan Premier League;
• matches involving Kairat, Astana, and Ordabasy;
• the Champions League and Europa League;
• the KHL and Barys games;
• ice hockey world championships;
• UFC;
• boxing bouts featuring Kazakh athletes;
• ATP and WTA tournaments;
• esports competitions in CS2 and Dota 2.

Sports betting is easier to legalize and regulate than online casinos. That gave the bookmaker segment more room to grow within the white market.

Local Operators Gaining Ground

In 2025, the market's structure by ownership type shifted. The volume of services from private companies rose from 159 billion to 377.5 billion tenge, while the figure for foreign organizations dropped from 422.1 billion to 214.6 billion tenge.

As a result:

• private companies accounted for 63.7% of the market;
• foreign organizations took 36.2%;
• a year earlier, the ratio was reversed.

This does not necessarily mean a mass exodus of international brands. More likely, some activity shifted into Kazakh legal entities, local structures, or other statistical categories.

For the user, the formal owner matters far less than whether the operator holds a local license, supports Kazakh payments, and can meet identification and payout requirements.

How Online Betting Became the Largest Segment

In 2024, online betting accounted for just 6% of the market. A year later, that figure hit 62.6%. This turned online betting into the main source of service volume, overtaking casinos, slot machines, and traditional betting formats.

At the same time, land-based categories contracted:

• casinos, from 29.7 billion to 24.9 billion tenge;
• slot machines, from 5.3 billion to 4.4 billion tenge;
• other betting services, from 357.9 billion to 187 billion tenge.

The result is a textbook picture of a digital shift: users did not necessarily start playing much more, but they increasingly do it through an online interface.

Meanwhile, the total volume of bets and payouts shows the scale of turnover. Over the period in question, Kazakhs staked around 1.6 trillion tenge, with winnings of roughly 1.2 trillion tenge. The gap between the two came to about 400 billion tenge.

These figures cannot be read directly as bookmakers' net profit. Turnover, payouts, GGR, and service volume are distinct metrics. To analyze an operator's economics, it is more useful to look at margin, bonuses, refunds, taxes, payment fees, and acquisition costs.

Legal Betting in Kazakhstan: Who Comes Out Ahead?

Official statistics do not disclose full market shares by brand. So it is impossible to reliably claim what percentage of online bets a given operator captures without an independent audit.

That said, the market can be loosely divided into three groups.

Local Licensed Bookmakers

These are companies operating through a Kazakh legal structure, holding a permit and supporting local payments. Their advantages:

• the tenge in the interface and settlements;
• local support;
• compliance with identification requirements;
• working with Kazakh banks;
• a more straightforward dispute process;
• integration with state oversight systems.

International Brands With a Local Presence

These companies use an international brand but operate through an authorized structure or a licensed domain. They can gain an edge through:

• brand recognition;
• their sportsbook line;
• a mobile app;
• a bonus program;
• live betting technology;
• a well-developed CRM.

However, having a global brand does not automatically grant the right to accept players from Kazakhstan. Before promoting them, you need to verify the local license, the domain, and the terms of the affiliate program.

Illegal and Offshore Platforms

Some demand has historically flowed to foreign sites, especially in segments that cannot be legally offered in Kazakhstan. But the state is consistently blocking unlicensed domains, restricting payments, and tightening control over advertising.

For affiliates, this is the riskiest zone. Even if a site is reachable by the user, that does not confirm its legal status or guarantee that commissions will be paid.

Promoting Betting in Kazakhstan: Working Traffic Sources

The market's growth has ramped up demand for player acquisition, but it has not made every channel equally accessible. Gambling advertising in Kazakhstan is tightly regulated.

The law permits advertising for bookmakers and pari-mutuel operators only in limited formats: at the bookmaker's premises, inside sports facilities, on athletes' gear, as well as in registered sports media and during broadcasts of international competitions on domestic television. Online casino advertising is prohibited.

Sports Media

Sports sites and niche platforms remain one of the most natural channels for legal betting. Here, the user is already interested in a match, a team, or a tournament, and the advertising context is tied to sports.

For affiliates, the promising angles are:

• match previews;
• sports analytics;
• team statistics;
• comparisons of authorized bookmakers;
• explanations of betting markets;
• odds coverage without promises of profit.

SEO and Content

SEO can deliver long-term results for queries such as:

• bookmaker Kazakhstan;
• legal betting in Kazakhstan;
• football betting;
• UFC betting;
• KHL odds;
• match predictions;
• bookmaker app;
• bookmaker with tenge top-ups.

But content has to account for local law. Advertising for an illegal operator must not be disguised as an independent review, and users must not be promised guaranteed earnings.

Influencers and Bloggers

This channel has become considerably riskier. In 2026, 12 bloggers and two internet portal owners faced administrative liability for illegal bookmaker advertising. The total in fines came to 3.3 million tenge.

In 2025, portal owners and bookmaker companies were also held to account, including 1xBet.kz, Fonbet.kz, Winline.kz, Pin-Up.kz, and Ubet.kz. The total in fines then stood at 3.8 million tenge.

For an influencer, adding an affiliate link and tagging it "18+" is not enough. It is essential to check:

• whether this advertising format is permitted;
• whether the brand can be used;
• whether the platform is registered as sports media;
• whether the operator allows working with bloggers;
• whether the post contains a direct call to bet;
• whether the audience skews toward minors.

Telegram and Short Video

Telegram, TikTok, Instagram*, and YouTube can deliver high reach, but platform rules do not replace the requirements of Kazakh law. The authorities are already engaging with major platforms to improve moderation of advertising for online casinos and illegal betting.

That is why a source needs to be judged not only by CTR and registration volume, but also by its legal resilience. A quick spike in FTDs does not make up for a blocked channel, a fine, or halted payouts.

What's New in Betting: What Has Changed for Affiliates?

The growth of online betting in Kazakhstan opens up fresh opportunities for affiliates, while simultaneously raising the bar on offer selection, advertising formats, and traffic quality. We break down how changes in regulation, player identification, and advertising controls shape the funnel from click to FTD, and what needs checking before launching a campaign in 2026. 

License Now Trumps CPA Size

In the past, an affiliate could choose an offer based on payout and conversion. Today, the first filter has to be legal standing:

1. Does the operator hold a Kazakh license?
2. Is the specific domain cleared?
3. Can it accept players from Kazakhstan?
4. Is the chosen traffic source permitted?
5. Does the advertising comply with the law?
6. How does the operator handle identification and self-exclusion?

Only after that does it make sense to compare CPA, RevShare, and hybrid terms.

FTD Quality Now Beats Registration Volume

In 2026, the rules tightened control over players and the self-exclusion mechanism. An operator is now required to check users against the state registry of individuals barred from gambling and betting.

This affects the funnel:

• some registrations never convert into FTDs;
• some deposits may be rejected;
• proper KYC carries more weight;
• retention plays a bigger role;
• affiliate programs scrutinize traffic sources more closely;
• an FTD may only qualify after additional checks.

For affiliates, the focus has shifted from registration volume to:

• click-to-registration CR;
• registration-to-deposit CR;
• the share clearing KYC;
• EPC;
• D7 and D30 retention;
• repeat deposits;
• the share of rejected players;
• NGR;
• payback period;
• source quality.

Identification Becomes Part of Marketing

As of August 2026, registration and login for betting participants must be confirmed via the mobile phone number provided at sign-up. (source: requirements for identifying betting participants)

In practice, this means the landing page has to explain upfront:

• what data will be required;
• why a phone number is needed;
• how confirmation works;
• what documents may be requested;
• why deposits or withdrawals are impossible without identification.

The more transparent this process is, the fewer user drop-offs and support requests there will be.

Localization Has Become Mandatory

For Kazakhstan, the following are especially important:

• Russian and Kazakh languages;
• prices in tenge;
• local sports events;
• Kaspi and bank payments;
• a mobile version;
• a clear withdrawal process;
• local phone number support.

Even a strong European offer can convert poorly if the user sees euros, a foreign support number, and an unfamiliar payment method.

What Is Happening to the Market in 2026

In the first quarter of 2026, the volume of services in the sector reached 116.3 billion tenge, up 16.1% year-on-year. That is the second-highest reading on record, behind only the first quarter of 2022.

The trend shows that after near-zero growth in 2025, the market has picked up speed again. Notably, this growth is happening against a backdrop of tightening rules, not liberalization.

The main regulatory thrusts:

• oversight of online operators;
• blocking of illegal domains;
• payment controls;
• mandatory identification;
• a self-exclusion registry;
• liability for illegal advertising;
• limits on blogger integrations;
• tougher requirements on platforms and reporting.

The result is a paradox: the market is growing, yet the room for informal promotion is shrinking.

What Affiliates Should Do

Before launching

• Verify the operator's license on official resources.
• Confirm whether the brand works with Kazakh traffic.
• Check the domain, legal entity, and payment recipient.
• Request the advertising rules in writing.
• Get creatives approved before publishing.
• Clarify whether branded queries may be used.
• Check age and identification requirements.
• Make sure you are promoting a bookmaker, not a prohibited online casino product.

During the test

• Track not only registrations but also FTDs.
• Split traffic by language, city, and source.
• Analyze the KYC success rate.
• Measure EPC and retention.
• Watch for player rejections.
• Check the stability of deposits and payouts.
• Save the offer terms and correspondence with your manager.
• Do not shift traffic to another brand without re-checking it first.

If the operator changes the rules

When the license, domain, payout terms, or advertising policy change, it is better to pause new placements temporarily and request an official clarification from the affiliate program. Moving a campaign to another project without vetting it is unwise: a similar name or the same owner does not guarantee the same legal status.

Betting Market Growth in Kazakhstan: What Comes Next?

Kazakhstan's online betting has indeed grown tenfold in official statistics: from 34.8 billion to 370.5 billion tenge. But the real takeaway from that figure is not just the sharp jump in betting, but the wholesale restructuring of the entire market. Online betting became the largest category, private and local companies strengthened their positions, and land-based formats lost share.

For affiliates, Kazakhstan remains a promising GEO, but it is now a market of quality, not sheer volume. You need to work with licensed operators, verify advertising formats, factor in mandatory identification, lean on local payments, and measure the real value of a player over time.

The market will keep growing, but it will also become more formal. In 2026, the winners will not be those who drive traffic fastest, but those who can combine localization, sports content, solid analytics, and compliance.

*Instagram is blocked in Russia by court decision.