Reference

Business & Operations Glossary

The operating metrics and commercial models that appear in every iGaming board pack and vendor contract.

GGR and NGR, ARPU and lifetime value, churn, breakage, turnkey versus white label: these are the terms that frame an operator's economics and a supplier's pricing. The definitions here give the standard formulas, the places where operators and regulators calculate them differently, and the commercial consequences. They are written for people evaluating a platform deal or a market entry, so each entry links to the iGamingHub comparisons and licensing guides where the same numbers get applied to real vendors and jurisdictions.

10 terms · Last reviewed: September 2, 2026

Breakage

The share of issued bonus value that players never convert into withdrawable money — the gap between promotional face value and real cost.

What it means

Breakage is bonus value that expires, is forfeited, or is lost during wagering before it can be withdrawn. Borrowed from gift-card and loyalty accounting, it captures the difference between what an operator issued and what it actually paid out. A campaign issuing a million euros of bonus credit with 90% breakage cost roughly a hundred thousand euros in converted value, not a million.

Why it matters for operators

Tracking promotional spend in absolute issued value is the most common costing error in iGaming marketing, because issued value and real cost differ by roughly an order of magnitude. Breakage is driven by the terms: the wagering requirement multiplied by the house edge, game weighting, expiry windows and max cashout all push it up. High breakage isn't automatically good news, though — it can mean terms so demanding that players disengage, which shows up later as churn rather than as savings. The useful pairing is breakage against retention, not breakage alone.

Example

A welcome offer at 35x wagering on 96% RTP games produces expected losses of 140% of the bonus during clearing, so most balances are gone before conversion. If 8% of recipients convert and withdraw under a 5x cap, the campaign's real cost is a small fraction of the headline promotional budget — and the finance team reporting the headline figure is overstating spend substantially.

Churn Rate

Churn rate is the share of active players who stop playing over a given period - the metric that quietly decides profitability.

What it means

Churn rate measures how many of your active players go inactive over a defined window, usually a month. Define "active" and "churned" clearly, because the definition changes the number: a sports bettor who plays weekly and a slots player who plays daily churn on different clocks. It's the inverse of retention, and it compounds - small differences in monthly churn produce large differences in lifetime value.

Why it matters for operators

Churn is where money leaks. Acquiring a player is expensive, so losing them early wastes the CPA you paid before they ever paid you back. Predicting churn before it happens - flagging the behavioural signals that precede it - is one of the highest-ROI uses of a CDP and personalization, because a save is far cheaper than a fresh acquisition.

Example

A brand cuts monthly churn from 25% to 20%. It looks small, but across a year it can nearly double the average player's active lifespan and the revenue that comes with it.

Player Lifetime Value (LTV)

LTV is the total net revenue an operator expects from a player across their entire relationship, not just their first deposit.

What it means

Player Lifetime Value is the projected net gaming revenue a single player generates over their whole lifecycle, from first deposit to their last session. It's a forecast, not a receipt: you model it from early behaviour, deposit patterns, and retention curves. LTV is the number that tells you whether an acquisition was actually profitable, because it's the other half of the equation with CPA.

Why it matters for operators

Paying 500 to acquire a player only makes sense if their LTV clears it with room for costs. As acquisition costs climb, LTV has become the metric operators optimize around - through retention, bonus design, and personalization - rather than chasing raw signups. Getting LTV right also decides how much you can afford to bid for players in the first place, which is why it belongs in every marketing and finance conversation.

Example

Two players both deposit 100 in week one. One churns; the other plays for eight months. Same first deposit, wildly different LTV - and only a model built on real data tells them apart early enough to treat them differently.

Sweepstakes Casino

A sweepstakes casino runs a dual-currency model — Gold Coins for play, Sweeps Coins redeemable for prizes — operating in the US under sweepstakes promotion law.

What it means

A sweepstakes casino offers casino-style games under US sweepstakes promotion law rather than gambling licenses. The model runs two currencies: Gold Coins, bought for cash and playable but never redeemable, and Sweeps Coins, which are granted free — as a bonus with Gold Coin purchases, by mail-in request, or through daily logins — and can be redeemed for cash prizes. The legal theory is that because Sweeps Coins have a free method of entry, play-for-prizes is a promotional sweepstakes rather than gambling, which requires consideration, chance, and prize together.

Why it matters for operators

Sweepstakes casinos grew into a multi-billion-dollar segment by reaching US states with no licensed online casino — a far larger addressable market than the handful of regulated iGaming states. Unit economics differ from licensed operations: no gaming tax on the sweepstakes theory, but payments run through standard e-commerce rails, where the model's classification affects acceptance rate and processor appetite. The regulatory picture tightened through 2025-2026: regulators and attorneys general in several states have challenged the model, some states passed legislation restricting or banning dual-currency sweepstakes, and operators have exited certain states in response. Anyone entering the segment should treat state-by-state legal review as a launch requirement, much like grey-market analysis elsewhere.

Example

A player buys 100,000 Gold Coins for 20 and receives 20 Sweeps Coins as a promotional bonus. After playthrough, accumulated Sweeps Coins are redeemable for cash where the operator permits it — the purchase was for Gold Coins; the redeemable currency was technically free.

Wagering Requirement

A wagering requirement is the multiplier a player must bet through before bonus funds become withdrawable — the number that defines what a bonus really costs.

What it means

A wagering requirement (playthrough) states how many times a bonus — or bonus plus deposit — must be staked before winnings convert to withdrawable cash. A 100 bonus at 35x means 3,500 in bets before withdrawal. Game weighting complicates the math: slots usually count 100% toward playthrough, while table games and live dealer count 10-20% or nothing, because their low house edge would let players grind through cheaply. Max-bet clauses (often 5 per spin) stop players from gambling the whole bonus in a few high-variance bets.

Why it matters for operators

The headline bonus is marketing; the wagering requirement is the actual cost model. Expected bonus cost is roughly the bonus amount minus what the house edge claws back over the playthrough volume, so the multiplier directly sets how much of each bonus survives to withdrawal. Set it too low and bonus abuse erodes NGR; set it too high and regulators and players push back — several licensed markets now cap multipliers or require prominent disclosure. Bonus terms are also a common dispute trigger that ends in a chargeback when a player feels misled.

Example

An operator offers a 100% match up to 200 at 35x on bonus only, slots weighted 100%, blackjack 10%, max bet 5. A player taking the full 200 must wager 7,000 on slots — at 96% RTP the expected loss over that volume is around 280, more than the bonus itself.

White-Label Casino

A white-label casino is a ready-made platform, run under the provider's license, that an operator brands as its own.

What it means

In a white-label setup, a provider supplies the platform, games, payments, and often the gaming license, while the operator supplies the brand and marketing. You launch fast under someone else's regulatory umbrella, trading control and margin for speed and lower upfront cost.

Why it matters for operators

White-label is the fastest route to market and the lightest on capital and compliance overhead, which makes it popular for first brands and market tests. The trade-offs are real: thinner margins, less control over the player relationship, and dependence on the license holder. Compare it carefully against a turnkey casino before committing.

Example

A new brand can go live in weeks on a white-label deal, where building independently behind its own license could take many months and far more capital.

Terms with their own pages

These business & operations terms carry enough search demand and depth to keep a dedicated page.

Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) — ARPU divides gaming revenue (GGR or NGR) by active players in a period; ARPPU, ARPDAU and ARPMAU are the same metric with a different denominator.
Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) — GGR is the total amount players stake minus the winnings paid back to them. It's the operator's top line before bonuses, taxes and fees, and the base most gaming taxes are charged on.
Net Gaming Revenue (NGR) — NGR is GGR minus bonuses, gaming taxes, payment fees and (depending on the contract) platform and content fees. It's the figure most revenue-share deals are paid on.
Turnkey Casino — A turnkey casino is a complete, vendor-built gambling platform that an operator runs under its own licence and brand, paying a setup fee plus revenue share.

Where these terms get applied

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