What Is NGR (Net Gaming Revenue)?

If you're on a RevShare deal, one term quietly decides your income, and it isn't the percentage. It's NGR: Net Gaming Revenue. Your share is a percentage of NGR, so how NGR is defined matters at least as much as whether the headline says 30% or 40%. Most affiliates never read the definition.

The simple version

NGR is roughly what your referred players lose, minus the operator's costs on them. The formula usually looks like this:

NGR = player losses − bonuses − payment fees − (sometimes) admin/platform fees

Your RevShare is applied to that number. So a "40% RevShare" deal doesn't pay you 40% of what players lose. It pays you 40% of what's left after the deductions. The sections below cover the order of those deductions, a worked example and a checklist for reading the NGR clause.

GGR vs NGR — the two numbers

You'll see both terms. They're not the same.

GGR is stakes minus winnings. HMRC's Remote Gaming Duty guidance defines an operator's profits as the amounts due as stakes, less amounts paid out as winnings. That page is archived and has been superseded by HMRC's combined betting and gaming duty guide, so check the current version.

Regulators also work with the gross figure. iGaming Ontario's onboarding steps for operators include end-to-end testing of Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) data and funds transfers. So GGR is a figure operators handle with regulators, while affiliates are usually paid on a net figure.

RevShare is commonly paid on NGR, the smaller number. NGR is a contractual term, so each deal defines it in its own terms and conditions. If a deal quotes GGR, read very carefully and confirm which one your percentage applies to.

What gets deducted (and where deals differ)

A typical NGR clause lists deductions like these, starting from GGR:

Bonuses, payment fees and chargebacks are standard and fair. Admin and licensing fees, catch-all wording and aggressive bonus accounting are where two "40%" deals become very different. Two networks can both advertise the same percentage and pay meaningfully differently based purely on this list.

Bonus costs: granted vs converted

The contract decides when a bonus counts as a cost. At granted value, every bonus credited to a player is deducted in full. At wagered or converted value, only the part that becomes a real cost to the operator is deducted. On bonus-heavy cohorts, the granted-value method gives a bigger deduction and a smaller NGR.

Gaming taxes and duties

In some regulated markets operators pay duty on gaming profits. HMRC's archived guidance, for example, describes Remote Gaming Duty charged on profits (stakes less winnings), with a return for each 3-month accounting period. An affiliate contract may pass that duty through as an NGR deduction or leave it with the operator.

Each market sets its own framework. In Ontario, for instance, igaming operators may only run online sites once they have entered into an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario and been registered by the AGCO. Check whether your contract passes duty through, and check the current rules in every market you work. This describes published guidance and is not tax advice.

Payment fees, chargebacks and fraud

Stripe's documentation explains how a chargeback works. The cardholder disputes a payment with their card issuer, the issuer's formal dispute immediately reverses the payment, and the merchant's balance is debited for the payment amount and a dispute fee. That's a real cost, which is why chargebacks are a standard deduction.

What you need to check is attribution: whose players the chargebacks are booked against.

Admin and platform fees

An admin fee can be a flat percentage, capped or absent. The rate isn't the only thing to ask about. Ask what base the fee is taken from, because it stacks on top of every other deduction. The CFTC's guidance on prediction markets makes the same point in another context: it tells customers to understand how fees and other costs impact returns over time.

Why the order of deductions matters

A 10% fee taken on GGR costs more than a 10% fee taken after the other deductions, because GGR is the larger number. The worked example below shows the difference.

The percentage is the part they advertise. The NGR definition is the part they hope you won't ask about. Ask about it.

Worked example: same RevShare, two NGR definitions

All inputs are illustrative. They are not market data, tax rates or typical fee levels. Take one cohort with a GGR of €10,000.

Deal A deducts bonuses at converted value, payment fees and chargebacks:

• 10,000 − 2,000 (bonuses) = 8,000
• 8,000 − 500 (payment fees) = 7,500
• 7,500 − 300 (chargebacks) = 7,200, so NGR is €7,200

Deal B counts bonuses at granted value and adds a duty pass-through and a 10% admin fee on GGR:

• 10,000 − 3,000 (bonuses) = 7,000
• 7,000 − 500 (payment fees) = 6,500
• 6,500 − 300 (chargebacks) = 6,200
• 6,200 − 1,500 (duty pass-through) = 4,700
• 4,700 − 1,000 (10% of 10,000 GGR) = 3,700, so NGR is €3,700

Now apply the same illustrative 30% share to both:

• Deal A: 7,200 × 0.30 = €2,160
• Deal B: 3,700 × 0.30 = €1,110

The headline percentage is identical, yet Deal B pays about half as much.

Now change only the fee base. If Deal B took its 10% admin fee on the €4,700 pre-fee figure instead of GGR, the fee would be 4,700 × 0.10 = €470. NGR would be 4,700 − 470 = €4,230, and the payout would be 4,230 × 0.30 = €1,269.

For context on the percentage itself: across 14 partner deals in our network, active terms as of Oct 2026, RevShare ranged from a minimum of 20% to a maximum of 80%, with a median of 35%.

When NGR goes negative

A month can close with negative NGR. This happens when a big player win pushes GGR below zero, or when the deductions are larger than GGR. Your contract decides what happens next: the balance is either reset or carried forward against future earnings. Read what negative carryover is and how it eats earnings before you accept it.

Per player, per brand or pooled: the scope of NGR

NGR can be calculated per player, per brand, or across every brand and product in the network. With pooling, a negative segment such as one brand or one vertical offsets the positive ones, which can cut what you're paid on the segments that are winning. Ask which scope applies, and whether the dashboard reports at that level.

NGR on hybrid deals

On a hybrid deal, the RevShare component still sits on NGR, so the CPA part doesn't make the definition irrelevant. For choosing a deal model, and for lifetime vs time-capped share, see CPA vs RevShare vs Hybrid.

The one question to ask

Before you sign any RevShare or hybrid deal, ask: "Exactly how is NGR calculated — what is deducted before my percentage is applied?" A confident, specific answer is a good sign. Vagueness is a red flag. Then work through the clauses:

Pair that with the other two questions that decide RevShare income: is there negative carryover, and is the share lifetime or time-capped (see CPA vs RevShare vs Hybrid)? The NGR definition is also one of the terms to compare when you choose an iGaming affiliate network.

Common NGR mistakes

• Comparing on headline percentage alone. The worked example shows the same 30% paying very different amounts.
• Treating GGR and NGR as interchangeable. They are different bases, and the gap between them is your deductions.
• Ignoring tax pass-through. If duty is passed through, it comes straight off the base you're paid on.
• Not checking for player-level NGR. Without it, you can't verify anything.
• Accepting an "other costs" clause. An open-ended clause lets new deductions appear later.

Sanity-checking reported NGR against your own tracking

Compare reported NGR with your own tracked FTDs and player activity. Watch for patterns, such as NGR falling while active players rise, or deductions jumping without a matching change in volume. Ask for a breakdown of deductions per period, because a sudden large chargeback or bonus line deserves a question. For postbacks, qualified FTDs and reporting, see how iGaming affiliates get paid.

What clean looks like

A fair deal has a clear, reasonable NGR definition, a stated fee base, no surprise admin-fee skims, no negative carryover, NGR reported per player, and a real-time dashboard where you can see the revenue your players generate and how your share is calculated. That transparency is the standard iGaming Gods runs: the numbers are yours to audit, not a black box.

Operators who want the cost side that shapes their own NGR, such as licence, platform and revenue-share fees, will find it on the studio site: what it costs to start an online casino.

FAQ

What is NGR in simple terms?

Net Gaming Revenue is roughly what players lose, minus bonuses, payment fees and sometimes admin fees. Your RevShare percentage is applied to NGR, so its definition sets what you actually earn as much as the percentage does.

What is the difference between GGR and NGR?

GGR (Gross Gaming Revenue) is stakes minus winnings, before any deductions. NGR is GGR minus bonuses, fees and other costs. RevShare is commonly paid on NGR, not GGR, so check which base your contract uses.

Why does the NGR definition matter?

Because two networks can both advertise "40% RevShare" and pay very differently depending on what they subtract before your cut, how they count bonuses and what base their fees are taken from. Heavy deductions shrink the base you're paid on.

How is NGR calculated?

Start from GGR, which is stakes minus winnings. Then subtract bonus costs, any gaming duty passed through, payment processing fees, chargebacks and fraud, and finally any admin or platform fee, all as your contract defines them. The order of the deductions and the base each fee is taken from both change the final figure, so ask for the exact formula in writing.

Are gaming taxes deducted from NGR?

Sometimes. In some regulated markets operators pay duty on gaming profits. HMRC's archived guidance on Remote Gaming Duty is one published example. An affiliate contract may pass that duty through as an NGR deduction or leave it with the operator. Check your contract and the current rules in each market you work. This is not tax advice.

Can NGR be negative?

Yes. NGR goes negative when big player wins push GGR below zero, or when deductions are larger than GGR in a period. Your contract decides what happens next: the negative balance is either reset or carried forward against future earnings. Check the clause before you sign, because carryover can wipe out later months' earnings.

Does NGR matter on a hybrid deal?

Yes. The RevShare part of a hybrid deal is still calculated on NGR, so the same questions apply: what gets deducted, how bonuses are counted, what base fees are taken from and whether NGR is pooled. The CPA component pays on qualified first-time depositors and doesn't change how NGR is defined.