UK Illegal Betting Traffic Surges to More Than 25 Million Visits Annually Despite Gambling Commission Enforcement

Traffic to unlicensed betting websites used by British consumers has surged sharply in recent years even as regulators intensify disruption efforts. Monthly unique visits increased from 1.8m in 2022 to more than 25m in 2025, according to new research from the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities’ (IFHA) Council on Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Crime, as reported by Focus Gaming News.

The study reviewed traffic across more than 300 betting websites, including 74 licensed operators and 227 illegal or unlicensed sites. Illegal operators attracted 19.4 visits for every 100 visits to licensed betting sites during the first seven months of 2026. Engagement deepened over the same period, with average visit duration rising 32 per cent from five minutes and 38 seconds to seven minutes and 25 seconds between October 2024 and July 2026. Pages viewed per visit increased 34 per cent, from 5.19 to 6.98.

For 32 tracked illegal operators offering bets on British horseracing, the ratio reached 6.8 visits per 100 licensed-operator visits between January and July 2026. That compares with a 0.97 ratio in late 2021. These trends persist despite online racing turnover falling by more than £2bn from its peak in the 2021-22 period.

Enforcement Volume Has Not Reduced Black-Market Traffic

The Gambling Commission has issued more than 3,100 cease-and-desist or disruption notices and secured removal of almost 288,000 URLs since April 2024. It received an additional £26m in funding through the 2025 Budget, and the government launched an Illegal Gambling Taskforce in January 2026. The IFHA report states that success should be measured by sustained reductions in illegal gambling traffic rather than the volume of enforcement actions or blocked websites.

British Horseracing Authority chief executive Brant Dunshea said the industry’s warnings during the Gambling Act Review have materialised. “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,” Dunshea said. He noted that customers shifting to unlicensed sites face greater risks and fewer protections while such operators contribute nothing to British racing or public finances. Dunshea called for urgency with the new Gambling Minister Vicky Foxcroft after limited progress nine months after the taskforce announcement.

Coordinated Action Needed to Reverse the Leakage

The IFHA study calls for a broader and more coordinated response involving government, industry stakeholders, payment providers and technology companies. Enforcement activity alone has not returned traffic to 2021 levels. Regulators and operators should therefore align on metrics and tactics that deliver measurable, sustained declines in black-market engagement to protect consumers and preserve contributions from the licensed market.