The black market is filling the gambling space with a silent surge
The UK gambling sector is once again being haunted by a monster that refuses to stay in the shadows. When SiGMA News published ‘The growing threat of black market gambling in the UK’ last week, the conversation shifted from enforcement to education as responses poured in from educators, operators and harm-prevention groups. In partnership with Social Intent, the Deal Me Out Black Market Evaluation Report pulled back the veil on the unregulated gambling world. The reaction was immediate. These weren’t echoes of old warnings. They were floodgates opening.
SiGMA News previously warned that overzealous reform could backfire in our piece ‘UK gambling shake-up risks backfire as black market threat looms’, and this new report shows just how close to the edge we might be.
A silent surge is sweeping across Britain, from school corridors to crypto casinos, leaving the regulated market struggling to hold ground. SiGMA News has brought together voices from all sides of the debate, from regulators and operators to lived-experience advocacy. Industry leaders are certain that the black market is growing in the blind spots of current UK policy. And if we continue to look away, it won’t be fringe anymore. It will be mainstream.
Can we hold back the tide? In this special two-part series, SiGMA News unpacks the creeping chaos behind Britain’s black market surge and asks what happens when trust vanishes.
What is the cost of our silence?
The findings of this latest report aren’t just another moral panic. They’re a data-backed indictment of a system that, despite ongoing efforts from regulators, still has too many stakeholders looking the other way. Are we really leaving this to official bodies to sweep up? Can we trust operators to do more than pay lip service and tick a box to say they’ve met their obligations? And are consumers who use illegal gambling sites knowingly putting more than the money in their wallets at risk?
In an age where truth has gradients, instability breeds chaos. While political turmoil and economic pressure push people into riskier behaviours, the gambling industry has a chance to lead. Not just to profit, but to protect. To guard the line between liberty and loss. To illuminate a path back from the shadows.
That change begins with education. It demands more than awareness. It demands action.
When systems sleep, the shadows speak
In a statement to SiGMA News, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) confirmed that since April 2023, it has referred over 118,000 illegal URLs for takedown, with over 81,000 removed by Google and Bing alone. That’s a tenfold increase from the previous year. The UKGC’s Enforcement team also issued over 1,150 cease and desist or disruption notices in the same period.
“We take the issue of illegal gambling incredibly seriously,” a Commission spokesperson told SiGMA News. “We do, and will continue to, take action to disrupt the unlicensed market – working with technology platforms such as search engines, other enforcement agencies such as HMRC and key facilitators such as payment providers and advertisers.”
But despite this crackdown, the Deal Me Out Black Market Evaluation Report estimates that over 420,000 children could be engaging with unregulated platforms. That’s not a hidden threat. It’s not fringe. It’s a parallel universe. So what can we do?
It wasn’t long ago that your children were safe inside once you locked the front door at night. But the mobile phone changed that. The internet changed that. Now, the gambling industry must face a new reality: the black market never sleeps. A savvier, more curious generation isn’t asking for more restrictions. They’re asking for truth, transparency, and the tools to make sense of a world where risk is just a click away. If the regulated market doesn’t speak to this generation, the black market is already filling the vortex.
Education fails to hit home
Adrian Sladdin, a leading voice in gambling education, co-founder of the Ethical Gambling Forum and former Director of Education at Young Gamblers’ and Gamers’ Education Trust (YGAM), told SiGMA News, “We always need to be mindful of educating our young people around unregulated content, especially in this digital age and when they are naturally inclined to explore the world through risky behaviours.”
He also warns against taking the UKGC’s numbers at face value, but not because they’re too high.
“It’s always difficult to call on how these numbers actually stack up. When you understand that the data for the Gambling Commission in 2024 seems to be based on only around 4,000 responses, you need to tread carefully. We also know that ‘unregulated’ is a broad church involving friendly bets, cards, amusement arcades, and the black market.”
But the problem, he says, is real. Social media is doing the marketing job for black market operators, and young people are walking straight into it.
“Social media is becoming more prominent in promoting gambling through influencers or celebrities, and it’s hard to fight against the tide here. There’s much more to be done, and a lot harder to deal with online issues than in the land-based areas of gambling.“
Sladdin adds, “I have always advocated that gambling issues should be part of the PSHE curriculum in schools, which is why we set up YGAM in 2014. However, we made sure the message wasn’t preachy or puritanical but a real chance to explore why people gamble, probability, the industry, harm, and addiction, all through an activity-based curriculum. For Gen Z, we need to rethink, especially with the rise of gaming, esports, and virtual casinos.”
When the message misses the mark, the risk multiplies
It’s a view echoed by Iris den Boer, Head of External Affairs at Deal Me Out, who believes the challenge lies in making the risks visible.
“One of the greatest challenges is simply helping people identify what unregulated gambling looks like. It’s not always obvious, especially to young people,” she said.
And the solution? It’s not more leaflets.
Her organisation has been promoting tools like GameCheck and pushing intergenerational literacy.
“We work to counter these misleading narratives by promoting digital literacy and critical thinking,” she explained. “Our message is simple and empowering: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. If we equip today’s young people with the tools to understand and challenge online risks, they will one day pass that knowledge on. That’s sustainability.”
Sladdin adds, “When we set up YGAM for a while, we were a breath of fresh air and got industry support to get our message out. I find it depressing to read on social media when people tell me there should be an education programme for young people or that they’ve heard of something called a loot box. Clearly, the message is getting lost somewhere. It’s much better to educate people up front than to pick up the pieces afterwards.”
Criminality and credibility
According to the UK Gambling Commission, black market platforms are not only a threat to consumers but also actively being tackled behind the scenes. The UKGC doesn’t mince its words about the risk.
“Anyone gambling on unlicensed sites is supporting illegal activity and putting themselves at risk. Your financial data could be stolen, harvested, or misused, and you may not even be paid out if you win.”
A UKGC spokesperson added: “These sites support crime and won’t have the standards or safeguards we insist on, such as providing self-exclusion or looking out for and tackling gambling-related harm. Consumers can easily check a licensed site by searching the business register on our website.”
As den Boer explained, “Gambling, in some form, will always exist, but regulated environments offer a far greater degree of oversight, accountability, and consumer redress. In contrast, black market operators evade responsibility, bypass their duty of care, and offer little to no recourse for harmed individuals.”
Yet the question remains: if this much enforcement is already happening, how is the black market still growing?
Is the regulated sector losing its grip?
SiGMA News approached five of the UK’s largest betting groups — Entain, Evoke, Flutter, Bet365, and Kindred Group (now part of FDJ United). Evoke declined, with a spokesperson saying that the BGC will “comment on the industry’s behalf.” The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) told SiGMA News that its members “take a zero tolerance approach to betting by children”, enforcing strict age verification on all products to prevent underage play. They added,
“The BGC funded the £10 million Young People’s Gambling Harm Prevention Programme, delivered by leading charities YGAM and GamCare, which has reached more than two million 11 to 19-year-olds, and those working with them, in the UK.”
The remaining operators had not responded by the time of publication.
Entain were the only major operator to respond directly to our questions surrounding the Deal Me Out report and said:
“Black market operators advertise extensively on social media and face no restrictions on stake limits or bonus offers, and customers need to be educated urgently about the significant risks of using them.”
They added: “Enforcement against illegal black market operators should be a key priority for regulators and governments around the world. Doing so will help to tackle crime, generate much-needed funds for public spending, and prevent customers from falling foul of an environment in which there is little or no protection. But regulators also have a key role in helping to ensure that the black market doesn’t continue to flourish due to overly draconian regulation.”
Entain also pointed SiGMA News toward two recent studies, one by Frontier Economics commissioned by the BGC and another by Regulus, which explore additional policy solutions. These include using the UK’s Digital Markets Bill to compel tech platforms to block black market gambling ads on social media.
Between denial and delay, the gap widens
That disconnect between perception and protection is where the black market thrives. And while public messaging has improved, the tempo of change still trails the tactics of those operating outside the law.
In a statement to SiGMA News, The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) warned: “This report and its shocking findings should serve as a wake-up call for Government who must guard against overbearing regulations which risk driving punters to the growing, unsafe, gambling black market.”
“Black market operators wilfully target vulnerable groups including the self-excluded and children while sucking vital cash from sport and depriving the Treasury of tax revenue.”
The BGC added, “We have always been clear: balanced regulations and a stable tax regime are the best defences against the black market. These illegal operators boast none of the safer gambling measures rigorously enforced by BGC members and do not promote safer gambling tools, like the regulated sector.”
Sladdin notes, “Change starts from the top, and there needs to be thought leadership in this area and, dare I say it, a collaboration between operators, educators, charities and more.”
That call for collaboration is no longer optional.
The second part of this investigation features further insights from today’s contributors, alongside fresh perspectives from Kevin O’Neill (Responsible Gaming Foundation), Matthew Hickey (Social Intent), and a statement from Gamstop, exploring the trust gap, tech failings, and the dangerous drift toward a digital underworld. Check it out tomorrow.
*If the shadows feel too close, and the stakes are more than financial, support is out there. The NHS gambling addiction service offers confidential help and mental health guidance.
