Almost £10 million is being staked illegally on the Grand National amid an alarming growth in black-market betting across the UK, according to industry analysis.
Gamblers are turning to unregulated markets in record numbers, potentially depriving the Treasury of up to £335 million over the next five years, it is claimed.
A record number of illegal bets on the Aintree showpiece is anticipated after a 522 per cent increase in traffic to unlicensed sites over three years.
Industry analysis seen by the Betting and Gaming Council shows for the Grand National alone £9.4 million will be staked illegally. “This should serve as a wake-up call for Government, who must guard against overbearing regulations which risk driving punters into the arms of illegal operators,” the organisation says.
Influencers boasting of huge wins on social media are also helping to lure problem gamblers into joining unregulated groups on Telegram, WhatsApp or Signal.
“Almost £10 million will be staked illegally on the unsafe, growing gambling black market at this year’s Grand National, fuelling crime, undermining player protection measures, while sucking vital cash from sport and the Treasury,” said Grainne Hurst, BGC’s CEO.
“The Grand National is one of the precious few sporting events in this country with the ability to unite the entire nation around a single spectacle. It is the nation’s punt, and it is being subverted by illegal operators offering illicit gambling to thousands of punters, many of whom are vulnerable to harm.”
Gambling addiction awareness campaigners had lobbied hard for more Government regulation but the industry claims affordability checks are playing a part in pushing punters into illegal markets.
Following various law changes, gamblers who lose £150 or more a month now face extra checks. Restrictions were introduced after the Government published a White Paper on gambling reform, which included proposals for a mandatory levy to fund addiction treatment, education and research.
However, a report by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities shows illegal betting and related crime have boomed during the same time. The number of unique customers visiting 22 unlicensed sites taking bets on British racing had grown by 522 per cent between August 2021 and September 2024. Unique visitor traffic to 10 legal websites offering betting on horse racing had grown by only 49 per cent over the same period.
Hurst, of the Betting and Gaming Council, adds: “Balanced regulations and a stable tax regime are the best defences against this black-market menace, which now poses an existential threat to British racing.”
The growth in illegal gambling comes at a critical juncture for horse racing. Gambling Commission figures published in December showed online betting turnover on British horse racing had dropped by £1.6 billion in the last two years.
Britons stake up to £4.3bn each year via illegal means
In September last year, the BGC commissioned Frontier Economics to conduct a study on the size, scale and reach of the black market, which includes illegal casinos, bookmakers, betting via syndicates on WhatsApp or Telegram and illegal bookmakers online. That study found 1.5 million Britons collectively stake up to £4.3 billion on the growing, unsafe gambling black market each year.
The report found illegal operators are “aggressively targeting UK customers, significantly undermining player protections, while sucking millions from sport and the Treasury”.
According to the research, more than one in five 18-to-24-year-olds who bet already use the unsafe, unregulated gambling black market online, and via secure online messaging apps.
Meanwhile, outfits based overseas aggressively target customers who have self-excluded from regulated betting operators. Authorities have started to clamp down on illegal platforms. Haydon Simcock, a British racehorse owner, is currently awaiting trial accused of being a senior figure in an illegal bookmaker that claims to have more than 1,000 customers, including others involved in racing.
Simcock was allegedly a commercial manager for The Post Bookmakers, an unregulated firm taking bets through the messaging app WhatsApp, whose advertising material had been circulating widely through the sport.
Simcock, 39, of Weston Coyney, Stoke-on-Trent, is charged with providing facilities for gambling to consumers in Great Britain without holding an operating licence between October 18, 2023 to September 11, 2024, and advertising those facilities between May 26, 2023 and March 1, 2024.
The Grand National at Aintree is the most popular – and most watched – horse race in the world. According to industry research conducted by the BGC, approximately £250 million will be staked on the main event.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, chair of the Gambling Related Harm all-party parliamentary group, said: “While the gambling commission absolutely must do more to clamp down on illegal operators and the growth of the black market it is critical to underline that the vast majority of the problems that we have come from licensed UK operators.
“They will no doubt jump on the bandwagon yet again and claim that this is a reason not to regulate them. Let’s make no mistake – our gambling laws are completely outdated – licensed operators in this country must be properly regulated to stop the abuses and prevent the widespread harm.”
