A new report from consultants Frontier Economics has revealed that illegal operators are “aggressively targeting” UK customers.
According to the study, commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council, 1.5 million people in Britain stake up to £4.3bn in the black market annually. In addition, more than one in five 18-24 year olds who bet already use the unregulated black market online via secure messaging apps.
UK players who have self-excluded from regulated betting operators are being “aggressively targeted” by outfits based overseas.
While £2.7bn is staked on illegal sites online, the study suggested up to a further £1.6bn could be being staked in-person at illegal gambling dens.
“This shocking report exposes the unnerving true scale of the growing, unsafe, unregulated gambling black market,” said the Betting and Gaming Council’s new CEO Grainne Hurst.
“From online gaming, to betting on sports like horse racing, millions of customers are being driven into the arms of pernicious black market operators. These people don’t care about player safety, don’t want to pay their fair share to support sport and don’t pay a penny in tax.
“By failing to adhere to the stringent standards set by the Gambling Commission, unregulated operators in the unsafe black market can make bigger offers, grant customers total anonymity, and promise the freedom to gamble without any controls or safety measures, unlike BGC members.
“Worst of all, these sites are making a mockery of the rules set up to protect the most vulnerable by aggressively advertising their services to those who have self-excluded.
“The Government and the regulator risk sleepwalking into this issue. Simply giving the GC more powers and more resources to tackle the black market won’t, in itself, work. Enforcement is only part of the solution.”
