The UK black market is expected to take up to £800m in bets across the new Premier League season. Illegal operators collected around £20m over the opening weekend.
Next season the figure could reach £1bn following the April increase in General Betting Duty. A typical match weekend generates £15m to £20m for unlicensed sites, meaning millions per fixture.
The Premier League is the most-bet football competition globally. Licensed operators are removing brands from club shirts and cutting visible advertising, but demand is not falling — it is moving to the grey market, where there is no player protection and no tax yield.
The Betting and Gaming Council backed a ban on unlicensed sponsorship of Premier League clubs and wants the rule extended across British sport. H2 Gambling Capital forecasts illegal betting handle in the UK will grow from £17bn this year to £33bn by 2028. WARC research shows unlicensed operators already control nearly half of all betting ad spend in the country.
Grainne Hurst, chief executive of the BGC, said every pound they take is a loss to British sport and the Treasury. Licensed operators pay tax, enforce safer gambling standards and support 109,000 jobs. The black market pays nothing.
The BGC is calling on government to intensify enforcement against illegal sites to keep players inside the regulated perimeter.
