BGC Warns UK Black Market Stakes Could Hit £33bn by 2028
Britain’s illegal gambling market could almost double from £17bn in stakes in 2025 to more than £33bn by 2028, the Betting and Gaming Council has argued, citing analysis by H2GC. The trade body said customers who move to unlicensed operators lose the protections available in the regulated market.
The BGC rejected claims that the black market is too small to shape policy debate. Britain has 22.5 million adults who place a bet each month, and even a market share below 10% still exposes hundreds of thousands of customers to offshore operators outside British regulation.
H2GC forecasts that unlicensed operators could account for almost one in every five pounds staked online within three years if current trends continue. For the BGC, the real concern is not today’s exact share but where that number lands by 2028.
No Checks, No Tax, No Accountability
Unlicensed operators do not answer to the Gambling Commission. They do not participate in self-exclusion tools such as GAMSTOP, and they do not follow the same requirements on age verification, safer gambling interventions or anti-money laundering controls.
On top of that, illegal operators pay no UK tax, contribute nothing to British sport, and carry no obligation to support gambling harm research, prevention or treatment programmes. Licensed operators, by contrast, work within a framework that covers game testing, customer fund protection and fair payment of winnings.
What the BGC Wants Done
The group welcomed the Government’s Illegal Gambling Taskforce but said it must be followed by practical action. Its five-point plan calls for stronger enforcement against illegal advertising, faster disruption of unlicensed websites, tighter controls on payment providers, greater accountability for businesses that support illegal operators, and tougher action against companies that target British consumers.
The BGC also called for regulation that is proportionate, evidence-led and assessed for its cumulative impact across multiple interventions, rather than evaluated through individual measures in isolation.
💡TGJ Take
The BGC is trying to shift the UK policy debate from additional restrictions on licensed operators to the risk of player migration into the illegal market. For operators, this is a competitive asymmetry problem: regulated brands carry the full cost of checks, taxes and safer gambling duties while offshore sites operate outside those obligations. Controls on payment providers, faster website disruption and pressure on advertising channels are the practical enforcement levers to watch. Without those tools, new restrictions on the licensed sector risk reducing consumer protection rather than strengthening it.
