Black market operators poised to overtake regulated firms in UK gambling ad spend

Illegal operators now account for almost half of all UK gambling advertising spend, according to new independent analysis, with that share set to become the majority within two years.

Research from global marketing intelligence firm WARC highlights a rapidly shifting landscape, with unregulated firms and the growing black market expanding fast while licensed operators scale back.

WARC is also the source of the widely cited near £2bn gambling advertising figure used in past media coverage, providing a consistent and authoritative picture of the market.

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% this year to £1.1bn, while unregulated operators are projected to grow by 32%.

On current trends, illegal operators will overtake licensed firms by 2028 to account for the majority of gambling advertising spend. Just a few years ago, licensed operators accounted for more than 80% of spend. That has now fallen to just over half and is set to drop below 50% within two years.

As MPs debate gambling advertising this week, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) say 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 Betting and Gaming Council, 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.”

Global marketing intelligence firm 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 unlicenced firms.

“These operators are predominately 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, unlicenced 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.”