A major new study published by Frontier Economic has found 1.5 million Brits stake up to £4.3 billion through unsafe gambling on the black market each year.
The report, that was commissioned by standards body the Betting and Gaming Council, is the first major study on the black market since the publication of the previous Government’s White Paper on gambling reform.
It found illegal operators are aggressively targeting U.K. customers, significantly undermining player protections, while sucking millions from sport and the Treasury. According to the research more than one in five 18-24 year olds who bet already use the unsafe, unregulated gambling black market online, and via secure online messaging apps.
While £2.7 billion is staked on illegal sites online – impacting every area of betting and gaming from online poker to horse racing – the study suggested up to a further £1.6 billion could be being staked in-person at illegal gambling dens. Standards body the BGC said balanced regulations and stable taxation is the best defence against the black market.
Betting and Gaming Council CEO, Grainne Hurst, said: “This shocking report exposes the unnerving true scale of the growing, unsafe, unregulated gambling black market. 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.
“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.
“Proposals by anti-gambling prohibitionists like advertising bans or intrusive, blanket, low level affordability checks will not protect customers, in fact they will give another leg up to unscrupulous black market operators, the last thing anyone wants.
“Every comparable market in the world tells us the same thing. The best defence against this growing illegal, gambling black market is getting the balance of regulations right.”
Andrew Leicester, associate director at Frontier Economics and one of the report’s authors, said: “This report shows that most gambling today is done through regulated, visible channels. That is good news.
“This report provides timely new evidence on the scale of the black market. Efforts to make gambling safer are important, but must avoid the risk of simply pushing more players and spend into unregulated providers who do not need to comply with regulations around safer play.”
