Racing Star Frankie Foster Exposes The Risks of Black Market Gambling
Racing presenter Frankie Foster is fronting a powerful new Betting and Gaming Council video series exposing the rapid growth of the black market and warning that raising taxes on regulated betting would make the problem worse.
Around 1.5 million Brits are already gambling with unlicensed sites, staking up to £4.3 billion every year. These shadowy operators pay no tax, face no scrutiny and openly flout UK rules. Most disturbingly, they deliberately target vulnerable players who have chosen to self-exclude using Gamstop.
Frankie shows how easy it is to fall into their trap. A simple online search brings up page after page of illegal sites, many designed to look like legitimate operators. A YouGov poll found that almost one in three punters would not feel confident spotting the difference between a regulated UK site and a black market one.
The danger is clear. Raising taxes on responsible, regulated betting firms will not generate more revenue for the Treasury. Instead, it will drive more customers towards the black market, where there are no protections, no investment in sport and no contribution to the public finances. Black market activity could already be costing the Government £335 million in lost revenue over the course of a five-year Parliament.
By contrast, the regulated betting and gaming industry is a vital part of the UK economy. It contributes £6.8 billion in gross value added, pays £4 billion in taxes and supports 109,000 jobs in towns and cities across the country. It also has some of the toughest safer gambling rules anywhere. Each month around 22.5 million people in Britain enjoy a bet and the overwhelming majority do so safely and responsibly.
As Frankie makes clear in the video, balanced regulation and a stable tax system are essential. They protect consumers, support British racing and sport, and keep the black market in check. Any move to hike taxes on the regulated sector would undermine this progress, put jobs and investment at risk and hand more power to illegal operators.
The Betting and Gaming Council is calling on policymakers to recognise the dangers of driving punters into the hands of unlicensed and unsafe gambling websites. BGC CEO Grainne Hurst says, “get the balance on tax and regulation wrong and you hand a competitive advantage to the black market, where operators pay no tax, contribute nothing to British sport, and offer no safer gambling protections. The black market is growing and actively targeting UK customers. Any tax rise, whether on betting or gaming, makes that offer more attractive and puts more players at risk.”
