A report analysing the UK’s black market has highlighted “worrying evidence” of the growth of illegal operators in the UK, according to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA).
The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) Council on Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Crime‘s report, released last week, analysed 301 websites – 74 legal and 227 illegal.
According to the findings, one in five visits are now to illegal sites, which is a huge shift from late 2021, when the ratio was just one visit per 100 legal visits.
Traffic to illegal platforms has grown fourteen fold between 2022 and 2025 from 1.8 million visits to over 25 million visits, while visits to licenced sites in the same period dropped by 34%.
BHA chief continues to call for more action on black market
The BHA took note of the report and found the increase in betting activity on horse racing on black market platforms, amongst other factors, of particular concern.
For 32 illegal sites taking bets specifically on British horseracing, traffic intensity reached 6.8 visits per 100 legal visits in 2026, nearly seven times the 0.97 rate recorded in late 2021.
“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,” said Brant Dunshea, Chief Executive of the BHA.
“This research provides worrying evidence that those concerns are now being realised, with an increasing number of consumers seemingly conducting their betting with illegal 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 latest in a long, long list of warnings
It is far from the first example of an organisation taking issue with the prevalence of illegal operators in the UK.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), the trade body for the gambling industry, has been vocal on the topic, providing worrying figures on just how huge it expects the black market is.
Ladbrokes Coral owner Entain has been spearheading the fight to eliminate black market sponsorships in the UK throughout 2026. Progress looks to be being made here, as a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) consultation closed in September on whether to ban this.
Dunshea, however, took a swipe at the inaction on black market operators from the UK’s Gambling Commission and the Illegal Gambling Taskforce – citing the “limited progress” of the latter since its creation in January 2026.
Dunshea continued: “We recognise 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.
“While the Taskforce’s creation was welcomed as a positive development, it is over nine months since that initial announcement was made, and progress so far has been limited. We therefore look forward to working with the new Gambling Minister, Vicky Foxcroft, to inject some urgency into this process.
“This study is another clear reminder that gambling regulation must be balanced and proportionate, allowing people who bet safely on racing to continue doing so without unnecessary disruption.”
