The gambling black market is NOT some sort of mirage or myth, as some would have you believe. It’s very real indeed, as a new City AM piece underlines. Research shows illegal sites took over 70% of Europe’s betting and casino sales in 2024. A staggering figure. And yet plans for a tax grab on the sector could thrust more punters towards black market bookies here in the UK. We already know from recent Frontier Economics data that 1.5m Brits are using the black market, staking over £4bn annually. These illegal operators don’t have any protections or standards on safer gambling, don’t support sports and don’t pay a penny in tax. Balanced regulation and stable taxation are the best way to safeguard consumers, secure jobs and to ensure we have a responsible, growing sector. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dc9Sy6-X
💯 agree
Key thing for me is to look at what's driving customers to the black market from all angles - current regulation, behaviour of regulated operators, customer experiences, enhanced bonuses, better sportsbook prices - being just the tip of the iceberg I'd imagine. Persuade customers that the experience they can have with regulated operators will be better than black market and growth in unregulated gambling might reduce, otherwise it'll be a runway train that will be unlikely to be slowed down let alone stopped.
US Sports Trader at Paddy Power
4dCan we stop flooding junk numbers out there. It just undermines the regulated industry’s credibility.