What is NGR (Net Gaming Revenue)? GGR vs NGR Explained

Net gaming revenue (NGR) is what remains of gross gaming revenue after the costs that are directly attributable to generating it: bonus and promotional costs, gaming taxes and duties, and — in many contracts — payment processing fees, platform fees and chargebacks. It is the number closest to the operator's real earnings from a player, which is why affiliate revenue-share deals, white label fees and some platform contracts are calculated on NGR rather than GGR.

How it works

There is no single legal definition; NGR is whatever the contract says it is. A typical formula is NGR = GGR − bonuses − gaming tax − payment fees − chargebacks. Some agreements also deduct game supplier fees, fraud losses or a fixed administrative percentage. Each deduction reduces the base on which a partner is paid, so the list of deductions is the most negotiated clause in an affiliate or white label agreement.

NGR can be negative for a player or a cohort in a given month — a large win or heavy bonus use can push it below zero. Contracts handle this with negative carryover (the shortfall is offset against future months) or no negative carryover (each month starts at zero), and the difference is material to the partner's income.

Why it matters for operators and suppliers

For operators, NGR is the honest measure of what a market, a product or an acquisition channel earns after the costs of running it. Reporting GGR alone can hide a market where tax and bonus costs consume most of the revenue.

For affiliates and other partners paid on revenue share, NGR is their income, and the deductions list is their margin. A 35% revenue share on a tightly defined NGR can be worth less than 25% on GGR. Affiliate software providers build their tracking and reporting around each operator's NGR definition for exactly this reason.

Example

A player cohort generates €100,000 GGR in a month. The operator paid €18,000 in bonuses to that cohort, owes 20% gaming tax (€20,000) and paid €2,500 in payment fees. NGR is €59,500. An affiliate on a 30% revenue-share deal earns €17,850 — not €30,000, which is what 30% of GGR would have paid.

Frequently asked questions

At minimum, bonus costs and gaming taxes. Many contracts also deduct payment processing fees, chargebacks and platform or supplier fees. The exact list is contractual, not regulatory.

Because it reflects what the operator actually keeps from the players an affiliate sends. Paying a share of GGR would leave the operator covering bonus and tax costs on revenue it has already shared.

When a month's NGR is negative, negative carryover means the loss is deducted from the partner's future earnings until recovered. Without it, each month resets to zero, which is more favourable to the partner.