BGC supplier members committed to not supporting black market, says CEO

Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) CEO Grainne Hurst has revealed the trade body is in the process of formalising a framework for associated suppliers to not service UK black market operators.

Speaking during the International Association of Gaming Advisors’ ‘Setting the UK gambling agenda for 2025’ webinar yesterday, 15 January, alongside Gambling Commission (GC) CEO Andrew Rhodes, Hurst provided further insight into how the BGC was ramping up efforts to deal with the growing black market.

Both Hurst and Rhodes were pressed for comment by Harris Hagan partner John Hagan on how high tackling the black market ranks in their respective list of priorities, with the BGC CEO insisting the challenge remains one of the most pertinent for her members. 

“Obviously, my main priority for the members is delivering the outstanding elements of the white paper and making sure we deliver a sensible tax harmonisation regime when we see that later in the year from the government,” Hurst explained.  

“But it’s almost hard to separate out the black market because it’s intertwined in almost everything we do. I think it’s incumbent upon all of us that [the black market] is a priority.”

She added that it is “obviously” not up to the regulated industry to police the illegal sector, but that the BGC has still taken action.

Hurst revealed that all of the BGC’s B2B members will be committing to a blanket ban on providing content and services to black market sites that accept UK-based customers.

“The BGC is taking that head on. We’re in the process of formalising it. What BGC B2B members will be committing to is that they do not provide black market sites,” she said.

“It’s not for us to police, but I think it is really important that the BGC are not fuelling that at its source.”

As per the BGC site, its members include several suppliers, such as White Hat Gaming, Games Global, IGT and Inspired Gaming.

Hurst’s comments come after the Gambling Commission launched an investigation into Evolution before Christmas over allegations the supplier’s games had been found on black market sites targeting the UK.

GC CEO Rhodes had previously told operators to increase due diligence around supplier partners to ensure they were not supporting the unlicensed sector.

Hurst also noted that the specific size of the black market is up for debate, although she cited a Frontier Economics report commissioned by the BGC that claimed 1.5 million people are staking as much as £4.3bn in the illegal market.

Within that total, £2.7bn is thought to be bet via illegal online channels, with the GC also due to report on its own black market estimations this spring. What’s more, one in five 18-24-year-olds have gambled with the illegal market, the study found.

“The commission is doing a lot of work in that space to quickly target whatever they see and where they have the evidence to do that,” Hurst remarked.  

“But what we must be conscious of is that we are not denigrating the offer within the regulated market, so that we’re forcing people to go to the back market. 

“It’s not just me saying that, in the Frontier Economics report we asked those that we surveyed why they were going to the black market, and nearly 40% said it was because they got better bonuses, which frankly, says it all.  

“A third said it’s because they had an easier way of setting up accounts, and about 30% said that it was to avoid document checks.” 

Analysts at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming have said the online black market market was worth £1.5bn in NGR in 2024, with customers attracted by lower AML and KYC thresholds as well as bonus features like ‘buy the bonus’.

The regulator’s view

Rhodes expressed a similar viewpoint, declaring that the UK regulator has been “very successful” at disrupting a significant amount of black market activity, before outlining two key elements to restricting its influence. 

“One is understanding who is in the black market, and we know one of the biggest groups are people who are self-excluded, who would not be in the typical regulated marketed,” he explained.  

“The other element is really tackling disruption. I think having high channelisation and a comparatively smaller illegal market that is not at scale, as we would say, is important, but we should place it so our efforts are on disruption.” 

Rhodes added that black markets are an issue regulators across the world will face, before noting the GC works with the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) to tackle the threat “across boundaries”. 

Echoing Hurst’s sentiment, Rhodes noted: “What I’m very focused on is trying to stop the flow and disrupt those who are offering illegal services because they have no place in our market.  

“At the same time, we have to make sure we are holding good standards of consumer protection and financial resilience.” 

Asked how much weight decisions made by the GC hold in the eyes of other regulatory bodies, Rhodes made clear that any rule update is the subject of scrutiny. 

“I think they [the decisions] are generally very influential. It has come up quite a few times in my conversations with regulators, partly because Great Britain is such a well-established market,” the CEO explained. 

“Because of the high channelisation and how well-developed our market is, our decisions and actions do get scrutinised by others.  

“What we’re trying to do is not necessarily have an element of telling people what we think they should do, but [we are] trying to cooperate and show some of the things that are available.” 

As highlighted by both Hurst and Rhodes, combating black market offerings comes with the risk of harming the regulated arena – and recent decisions made by other European nations have proven that. 

Several nations have deployed stricter measures, only to see the rate of unregulated gambling rise as a result, as per the BGC’s Frontier Economics report.

The study estimated that in Norway – a monopoly market – more than 66% of all money staked is done so illegally. In Bulgaria and Portugal – countries with particularly high gambling taxes – 47% and 31%, respectively, is gambled with the black market.

Elsewhere, Hurst and Rhodes are both due to speak at the BGC’s AGM on 27 February, with the trade body announcing details of the event today.

The pair will be joined by gambling minister Baroness Twycross and shadow Culture Secretary Stuart Andrew at the event in central London next month.

Hurst said: “We have much to get on with, and the AGM is the perfect place to set the tone for the rest of the year. I encourage everyone to sign up soon, and I look forward to welcoming you to our AGM in February.”