Study claims $5.7bn staked on UK’s gambling black market

The United Kingdom’s Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) conducted a study that showed £4.3bn (around $5.72bn) staked on black market gambling.

The report found that these avenues to illegally placing bets in Britain were “high awareness, easy to find, and already commonly used.”

According to the publication, which considered six thousand individuals and some high-profile operators, £2.7bn ($3.59bn) is placed on black market sites in the UK, and £1.6bn ($2.13bn) is staked in illegal premises in the country.

Frontier Economics delivered the review of black market staking on behalf of the BGC, and CEO Grainne Hurst was surprised by the details.

She 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.”

Betting and gaming are heavily regulated in the United Kingdom, where there is vigorous cultural support for sports. Taxation brings in £4.2bn ($5.58bn) each year for His Majesties Revenue and Customs (HMRC),

Problem gambling affects 0.4%, according to the BGC, and the Gambling Commission of the UK donated £172.5m over four years to tackle problem gambling and gambling-related harm.

Hurst commented on the lack of regulation in these illegal options thriving. She continued, “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 defense against this growing illegal gambling black market is getting the balance of regulations right.”

As we reported, the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) put forward further limitations and regulations on wagering. These limits will apply to gamblers 25 years and under, and anyone over this age is expected to have a £5 maximum staking limit.

Image: BGC.

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