Illegal betting in Britain surges beyond pre-White Paper levels, report suggests

• The British Horseracing Authority released a new report that looked into illegal gambling activities between 2022 and 2025, uncovering a concerning growth in unregulated gambling
• One in five visits in the first seven months of 2026 were tied to illegal gambling websites
• The growth of illegal gambling in Britain comes despite the ongoing efforts to combat the unregulated gambling sector

Despite the ongoing efforts against illegal gambling in the UK, the number of customers using the services of unlicensed operators continues to grow, a newly released study suggests.

One in five visits is with an illegal betting operator

On Friday, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) released the results of a new study published by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities' (IFHA) Council on Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Crime.

The report uncovered that despite the review of the Gambling Act and ramped-up efforts of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), the share of the illegal gambling market in the country continues to increase.

Overall, the report analyzed website traffic of more than 300 popular betting websites in Britain, with this number including 74 legal and 227 illegal betting websites.

The study compared the 1.8m monthly unique visits to illegal and unlicensed betting websites recorded in 2022 to the latest results.

Concerningly, the number of monthly unique visits to illegal gambling websites soared to more than 25m in 2025, according to the new study.

The white paper also focused on the first seven months of 2026, recording 19.4 visits to illegal gambling websites for every 100 visits to legal operators, a figure that suggests one in five visits is to unregulated gambling websites.

Brant Dunshea, BHA’s Chief Executive, discussed the newly released report, Casino Guru News learned from a press release.

"Throughout the Gambling Act Review, British racing consistently warned that even well-intentioned policy changes could have unintended consequences for our sport, including driving more customers towards the illegal market," he said.

Dunshea described the findings of this study as "worrying evidence" that what was previously a concern has become reality and there’s a growing number of consumers using illegal betting operators.

"Every racing customer who moves from a licensed operator to an illegal one faces greater risks and fewer consumer protections. These unlicensed businesses also contribute nothing to British racing or to the public finances," the executive added.

Additional actions against illegal gambling are necessary

The concerning report follows the review of the Gambling White Paper and changes that have impacted legal operators over the last few years in the UK.

Besides overhauling the gambling regulatory framework, the country increased enforcement with the Gambling Commission issuing more than 3,100 cease-and-desist or disruption notices and removing nearly 288,000 URLs since April 2024.

Those actions reaffirm lawmakers' dedication to addressing the challenge of the illegal gambling vertical, yet the report highlights the need for further action.

"We recognize the Commission’s recent increase in enforcement activity, but we will be sharing these findings with Government and urging it to work with us to keep bettors within the regulated market as this leakage continues to grow," Dunshea added.

Ramping up its efforts against illegal gambling, the UK Government designated £26m funding to the Gambling Commission and created the DCMS Illegal Gambling Taskforce in January 2026.

At the same time, legal operators face scrutiny and follow a set of regulations that unregulated, unlicensed companies do not adhere to and can easily lure customers with various bonuses and promotions.

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