BGC: £500m Illegal Bets Forecast For Jump Racing Season
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) estimates that £500m will be wagered with illegal gambling operators during Britain's National Hunt season, and has used the start of the jump racing calendar to warn that the black market is a growing threat to racing and its fans.
The trade body said the warning comes ahead of this weekend's Cheltenham November Meeting, one of the biggest fixtures of the early season. It expects £10m to be staked with illegal operators across the three days of the festival, according to its announcement.
The BGC's figure covers the whole season, which runs from October to April and takes in the King George VI Chase at Kempton, the Cheltenham Festival in March and the Grand National at Aintree in April.
What The BGC Says About Illegal Operators
The BGC argues that licensed bookmakers must meet strict standards, including age-verification checks, anti-money laundering requirements and safer gambling measures, while illegal gambling websites operate outside UK regulation and offer none of those protections.
It also points to the money. Black market operators pay no UK tax and make no contribution to British horseracing, the BGC says, even though they target the sport's biggest events. By contrast, it says its members contribute more than £350m a year to the sport.
Grainne Hurst, the BGC's chief executive, said the National Hunt season is a highlight of the sporting calendar but that criminal operators are also looking to cash in. She said the BGC will keep working with the Government and the Gambling Commission to tackle the illegal market, protect customers and make sure racing continues to benefit from a well-regulated betting industry.
Wider Black Market Forecasts
The jump racing estimate sits alongside larger projections the BGC has been publishing for months. It cites independent analysis from WARC, which found that unregulated operators now account for almost half of all UK gambling advertising spend. In the BGC-commissioned WARC report published in April, advertising by regulated operators was forecast to fall 9.2% to about £1.05bn, while unregulated spend was forecast to rise 32% to £845m.
The BGC also cites forecasts from H2 Gambling Capital that the amount staked with illegal operators could grow from £17bn in 2026 to more than £33bn by 2028.
The licensed sector, by the BGC's count, supports 109,000 jobs, contributes £6.8bn to the UK economy and generates more than £4bn in tax revenue each year. These are the trade body's own figures and are not independently audited.
Casino Games Hub
Safer Gambling Week Follows
The announcement lands days before Safer Gambling Week, which runs from November 16 to 22. The regulated industry will use the week to highlight the tools, support and protections available to customers, from deposit limits to self-exclusion.
For racing fans placing bets over the winter, the practical point is simple: check that a bookmaker holds a UK Gambling Commission licence before depositing. Our guide to horse racing betting sites lists operators that are licensed to take bets from British customers.
The BGC represents the licensed betting and gaming industry, so the estimates come from a body with a clear stake in the debate. They are forecasts rather than measured totals, since illegal operators do not publish their turnover.
