Turkey accounted for nearly a quarter of September 2026 iGaming growth

Turkey supplied nearly a quarter of the worldwide increase in user demand for iGaming in September 2026, Blask data shows. Almost two thirds of the global rise came from markets that had already grown in August, while Turkey—which had declined in August—recovered strongly and became the single biggest contributor.

Blask defines its measures as the Blask Index, a real‑time measure of market demand volume for iGaming brands in a given country based on normalized search data, and BAP (Brand’s Accumulated Power), a brand’s percentage share of total market demand in a specific country and period.

Where the growth came from

Of the 142 countries tracked by Blask, 111 ended September with a higher Blask Index than a month earlier. Markets that had grown in August were most likely to rise again: 91% of them did. Of those that had declined in August, 70% recovered in September.

Brazil was the notable exception. The country fell further in September and its loss alone represented 63% of the combined decline across all shrinking markets. In the final week of the month Brazil introduced a nationwide iGaming ban: Provisional Measure 1,394, in force from 25 September, prohibited fixed‑odds betting on sports and online games and halted new deposits immediately. That sequence left Brazil vulnerable and allowed the Philippines, which rose after a small August decline, to take first place from Brazil.

Turkey’s recovery and brand reshuffle

Turkey suffered a 6.1% drop in August but in September its Blask Index climbed by almost half and the market moved past South Africa into third place globally. In pure percentage terms only three smaller markets outpaced Turkey; the fastest growth was Honduras at +54.4%.

The Turkish market is highly fragmented: the largest brand holds under 10% BAP and the entire top 10 sits within five percentage points. That fragmentation produced rapid leadership changes: Merit King was #1 in July, Nesine led in August and Jojobet topped the list in September. Turkey was also one of nine countries that gained a new #1 brand during the month.

September’s shift went further than a single leader change. Turkey was the only tracked country where the entire top three were replaced: Jojobet, Pusulabet and Marsbahis occupied the top three, displacing Merit King, Nesine and GrandPashaBet. Merit King fell to 16th, while Nesine and GrandPashaBet moved to 4th and 6th respectively. Pusulabet, Jojobet, SuperBetin and Marsbahis—each ranked fifth or lower in August—accounted for more than half of Turkey’s Blask Index increase. Blask notes that the fastest‑growing brands in Turkey each had under 2% BAP a month earlier, and four of the five steepest decliners had been in the top 10.

Regulatory context in Turkey

Tighter enforcement coincided with the ranking changes. An expanded ban on advertising illegal gambling took effect on 1 August, and on 5 September the Justice Ministry announced an operation to disrupt payments to unlicensed betting sites. The advertising and payments actions ran through the period when brands swapped places.

September’s global rise in Blask Index was therefore concentrated in markets that were already improving, with Turkey the single largest country-level contributor, Brazil the largest source of decline and the Philippines moving into first place.