TLDR
- The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) sent an open letter to major tech platforms demanding action against illegal gambling ads
- Illegal gambling stakes could grow from £17bn to £33bn within five years
- Illegal operators make up almost half of all gambling advertising spend in the UK
- The BGC wants AI investment, better detection, and cross-platform data sharing
- The illegal black market could take nearly £200m during the World Cup
A Growing Black Market Hidden in Plain Sight
Britain’s leading gambling trade body is calling out big tech over the rising tide of illegal gambling online. The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) published an open letter signed by its chief executive Grainne Hurst, pushing major tech platforms to do more to stop black market gambling operators reaching UK consumers.
The letter targets social media companies, search engines, messaging services, and digital ad networks. These platforms are being used by unlicensed gambling sites to reach UK users, including people who have self-excluded from gambling or are seeking help for addiction.
Illegal sites do not follow UK consumer protection rules. They don’t run customer safety checks, don’t pay into research and treatment funds, and don’t pay UK taxes.
Market research firm H2 Gambling Capital estimates that stakes placed with illegal sites could rise from around £17 billion today to £33 billion within five years.
That is a serious and growing problem that the BGC says requires urgent attention.
Illegal Operators Are Winning the Ad War
Advertising data from WARC shows illegal gambling operators now account for almost half of all gambling ad spending in the UK. Forecasts suggest black market sites could overtake licensed operators in advertising presence by 2028.
The BGC is asking tech firms to remove illegal gambling ads before users even see them. It also wants more investment in AI and data tools to detect and block these sites.
Hurst said the question is no longer whether the problem can be solved, but whether enough is being done to solve it.
She acknowledged that policing paid ads is different from dealing with user-generated content, but said that complexity is not an excuse for doing nothing.
Taskforce and World Cup Warning
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport recently set up a cross-body Illegal Gambling Taskforce to deal with the issue. It plans to meet twice a year.
Hurst pointed out that some of the tech companies she wrote to already sit on this taskforce. But she said there is little visible evidence that their involvement has matched the scale of the problem.
The Gambling Commission has also flagged that rising use of VPNs is making it harder to track illegal gambling activity in the UK. A 30% adjustment had been applied to account for hidden traffic, but recent data suggests the true figure may be even higher.
With the World Cup now underway, the BGC warned that illegal operators could pocket close to £200 million in bets during the tournament.
Last month, operator Entain separately called on the Independent Football Regulator to stop football clubs from taking sponsorship money from gambling companies not licensed in the UK.
The BGC says it will work with any platform willing to take the issue seriously.
