UK Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross has formed a specialised Illegal Gambling Taskforce to fend off the black market.
The solution of the task force comes after years of caution by the controlled industry that black market operators are becoming significantly prevalent in the UK.
This was raised multiple times throughout the debate around industry taxes last year, with operators arguing that over-taxation would lead to registered operators taking steps that might press consumers to the black market.
However, when the government eventually installed taxes from 21% to 40% on online video gaming (from April 2026) and gaming in general, other than retail, from 15% to 21% (from April 2027), it consisted of a dedication to investing cash into combating the black market.
Although the taxes have yet to come into effect, it could be expected that the task force will get some gambling tax-based backing. The Baroness-led taskforce may be an early fruit of the federal government's planned anti-black market labour.
On the Department for Culture, Media and Sport LinkedIn profile, Baroness Twycross stated: "Our Taskforce will interact over the next year to make sure that individuals who want to bet can do so securely, with the ideal defenses in place."
BGC backs task force
Some important information were likewise shared on LinkedIn by Grainne Hurst, CEO of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), who was in participation at the taskforce's launch event.
Hurst outlined that the federal government has clearly set out its objective, which obviously involves "joining essential players throughout the market and beyond, including tech business and payment providers." At this time, however, very little else has been revealed about the initiative.
Other than that, Hurst reminded of the scope of the black market in the UK - with 1.5 million individuals staking approximately ₤ 4.3 bn on it.
The severity of the issue has also been formerly highlighted in reports from numerous organisations, such as Deal Me Out (DMO), a betting damage prevention and education organisation.
A substantial study from April in 2015 drew responses from a UK swimming pool of 1250 children, 300 adults and 10 gambling material creators, discovering that more than ₤ 10m has actually been transferred into the black market by adult customers alone.
Breaking down the numbers further, ₤ 3.6 m of the above amount was staked by people who are struggling with problem gambling, ₤ 1.9 m from basic customers, and ₤ 5.1 m from the 10 material creators - who, surprisingly or not, were paid to market illegal gambling websites.
DMO even more mentions that 67% of respondents told them that they were self-excluded via Gamstop from certified betting websites - the Ladbrokes, Corals, Paddy Powers and bet365s etc of the UK gaming sector - but continued betting with black market firms.
Studies like those from DMO, while more restricted in scope than those by the federal government or Gambling Commission, show that there is a substantial black market in the UK that needs attention.
Gamstop itself also exposed last year that around one-in-10 self left out gamblers confess to frequently utilizing offshore, unlicensed 'non-Gamstop gambling establishments'. This would line up with the stat typically pointed out by the BGC and others that around 10% of UK betting volume takes location within illegal markets.
"While any proposition to work against the hazardous black market is certainly welcome, it's going to be an uphill fight," the composed on LinkedIn. "Already the scale of it is big - 1.5 m Brits stake as much as ₤ 4.3 bn on the black market each year.
"Unfortunately, the considerable tax rises on our sector will inevitably drive a lot more customers out of the controlled market and into the hands of dishonest prohibited operators.
"They are so extremely damaging since they have no age checks, no safer betting tools and no customer protections. Nonetheless, it was excellent to see the Government bring individuals together to get speaking about the subject. And to acknowledge the sheer scale of the issues we now face."
Not everybody is persuaded of the level of black market activity, not necessarily in the UK however throughout other markets. In the Nordics, where market cases about the black market are similarly utilized to argue against stricter guidelines and in favour of market liberalisations, academics have doubted the degree of illegal activity.
