Illegal operators account for almost half of UK gambling advertising spend, new research says
The research suggests that unlicensed operators will overtake the licensed gambling sector’s advertising spend within two years.
UK.- The British gambling sector lobby group, the Betting and Gaming Council has reported that new research suggests illegal operators account for almost half of all UK gambling advertising spend. It warns that the share could rise to become the majority within two years.
The research, conducted by the marketing intelligence firm WARC, comes ahead of the upcoming voluntary ban on Premier League front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship and as some licensed operators scale back on marketing in a bid to absorb the rise in British remote gaming tax.
According to WARC, the total UK gambling advertising market is forecast to reach £1.9bn by October 2026. Licensed operators are expected to reduce spend by 9.2 per cent this year to £1.1bn, while the amount spent by unregulated operators is projected to increase by 32 per cent.
Just a few years ago, licensed operators accounted for more than 80 per cent of gambling advertising spend. On current trends, illegal operators will overtake licensed firms by 2028 to account for the majority of gambling advertising spend, WARC said.
As MPs debate gambling advertising this week, the BGC says the focus must be on who is advertising, not simply how much, warning that the harmful black market is increasingly filling the gap. The BGC warns that additional pressures, including proposed financial risk assessments and higher taxes, risk accelerating the growth of the black market by making the regulated sector less competitive and driving consumers towards unregulated operators.
Grainne Hurst, Chief Executive of the BGC, said: “This should ring alarm bells in Westminster. The real question is whether advertising is coming from regulated operators, who are held to strict standards, or from the harmful illegal black market, which operates entirely outside the rules.
“Targeting licensed operators when their advertising spend is already falling will not reduce overall advertising, it will simply bolster the harmful illegal black market which is aggressively targeting UK customers. The Government must go further and faster to clamp down on the black market before it is too late.”
WARC said: “While ad spend within the UK’s gambling sector is set to rise to £1.9bn this year, WARC research has found that there is a two-speed market at play, with almost all growth now being driven by unlicensed firms.
“These operators are predominantly based overseas and are paying ever increasing amounts to reach UK consumers online via search and social media. Sponsorship too is heavily leveraged by unregulated firms who are, collectively, set to account for over half of sponsorship ad spend in the gambling sector next year.
“Most significantly, unlicensed operators are on course to account for over half of all ad spend within the gambling sector by 2028; a sign of the tectonic shift currently occurring within the market.”
The government has proposed a ban on gambling sponsorship in sports by companies that don’t have a Gambling Commission licence.
