GAMSTOP Users and Underage Players Produce Nearly All Revenue for Illegal Gambling Operators, says New Report
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, September 3, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- - Illegal online gambling operators now control 9% of Great Britain’s £8.2 billion online gambling marketplace
- Mainstream audiences are served by thousands of legal, licensed online brands producing £7.6 billion in gross gambling revenue (GGR) in 2024 and £3.9 billion in 2025 First Half
- Vulnerable audiences are exploited by thousands of affiliates promoting hundreds of illegal online gambling operators producing £583 million in GGR in 2024 and £379 million in 2025 First Half
- Vulnerability Victimisation is the point of crime’s focus on the GB marketplace: Players on the GAMSTOP self-exclusion scheme, which prevents them from engaging with legal, licensed brands, have been the core target for illegal online gambling and this drives the majority of black-market gambling activity in Great Britain
Despite what you might hear from gambling industry trade associations and press, there is no “black-market menace” in GB online gambling significantly preying upon mainstream audiences. A new report from marketplace intelligence platform Yield Sec, commissioned by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG) reveals that Great Britain is like all other online gambling marketplaces and features two distinct sectors – legal and illegal – and the main drivers for the illegal sector come from two audiences: under 18s and self-excluded players.
Between 2022 and 2024, legal online gambling grew by 19%. Illegal online gambling grew by 345%. A shocking number and one that industry advocates will wish to use to argue for no changes to their revenue reality, gambling regulation and taxes, but that number is entirely explained by what is going on in Great Britain’s black-market basement: vulnerability victimisation of under 18s and self-excluded players (those on the GAMSTOP self-exclusion scheme). These audiences have no legal options and no other choice than illegal operators – and, given that 1% of GB’s population, 532,484 people, are now registered on the GAMSTOP scheme, this is a significant audience that crime has exploited to construct its home in Great Britain, a marketplace where it previously had no easy access to given the high costs of entry for marketing to mainstream audiences.
Derek Webb, founder of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, comments:
“The GB online gambling marketplace is very different to the US and the EU. The 2005 Gambling Act allowed operators to stay offshore with minimal tax and regulation - effectively black-market standards. The 2014-15 changes required GB licensing with a low gambling tax rate of only 15%. The illegal sector does not compete with established brand names here. It targets the vulnerable underage and self-excluded groups, pushing the most addictive content via “Casinos not on Gamstop” marketing. Labour, responsible for the 2005 Gambling Act, has a chance to atone for the economic harms caused by electronic gambling by accepting the tax proposal of ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown.”
Ismail Vali, Founder and CEO of Yield Sec, added:
“Crime is not stupid: it understands that Great Britain is an extremely expensive marketplace to enter and produce profitability within. Crime cannot do that when competing against thousands of legal, licensed brands and their spending power across online marketing. For mainstream consumers, what possible benefit would you gain from using an illegal gambling operator in Great Britain? Illegals in Great Britain cannot beat legals across price, product or promotion, consistently. There is no good reason for mainstream consumers to use illegal gambling operators, so, crime only targets those consumers who have bad reasons for requiring illegal gambling operators: they are under 18 and they are on the GAMSTOP self-exclusion scheme. Crime loves this audience as they are now plentiful, have no legal options and are incredibly cheap to market to. Yield Sec identified this dark niche marketing via the “Not on GAMSTOP” keyphrase back in 2020, when Great Britain’s illegal gambling market share was just 0.43%. Five years later, and illegal gambling has nearly doubled its share every year to achieve 9% total market share. Nearly all of that growth is attributable to the “Not on GAMSTOP” phenomenon. The abuse and exploitation of vulnerable communities is the main thing here – the growth of crime from targeting those communities is a failure of oversight and control from those with the marketplace duty to do so.”
Click here to access the full CFG / Yield Sec Great Britain Online Gambling Marketplace National 2024 and 2025 First Half Report.
For further information please contact:
Yield Sec:
info@yieldsec.com
About The Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG):
The Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG) exists to advance a politically bipartisan and scientifically evidenced agenda of gambling reform. CFG will be active across America because the nationwide debate over gambling needs more balance and trustworthy data.
For more information, visit: https://www.fairergambling.com/
About Yield Sec:
Yield Sec, short for yield security, is a technical intelligence platform monitoring all audience activity across gambling, streaming, crypto and consumer goods to see the total online marketplace - both legal and illegal. Yield Sec delivers analysis, actions and recommendations to ensure online stakeholders make the money they should - and are not
stolen from by crime.
https://www.yieldsec.com/
- Mainstream audiences are served by thousands of legal, licensed online brands producing £7.6 billion in gross gambling revenue (GGR) in 2024 and £3.9 billion in 2025 First Half
- Vulnerable audiences are exploited by thousands of affiliates promoting hundreds of illegal online gambling operators producing £583 million in GGR in 2024 and £379 million in 2025 First Half
- Vulnerability Victimisation is the point of crime’s focus on the GB marketplace: Players on the GAMSTOP self-exclusion scheme, which prevents them from engaging with legal, licensed brands, have been the core target for illegal online gambling and this drives the majority of black-market gambling activity in Great Britain
Despite what you might hear from gambling industry trade associations and press, there is no “black-market menace” in GB online gambling significantly preying upon mainstream audiences. A new report from marketplace intelligence platform Yield Sec, commissioned by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG) reveals that Great Britain is like all other online gambling marketplaces and features two distinct sectors – legal and illegal – and the main drivers for the illegal sector come from two audiences: under 18s and self-excluded players.
Between 2022 and 2024, legal online gambling grew by 19%. Illegal online gambling grew by 345%. A shocking number and one that industry advocates will wish to use to argue for no changes to their revenue reality, gambling regulation and taxes, but that number is entirely explained by what is going on in Great Britain’s black-market basement: vulnerability victimisation of under 18s and self-excluded players (those on the GAMSTOP self-exclusion scheme). These audiences have no legal options and no other choice than illegal operators – and, given that 1% of GB’s population, 532,484 people, are now registered on the GAMSTOP scheme, this is a significant audience that crime has exploited to construct its home in Great Britain, a marketplace where it previously had no easy access to given the high costs of entry for marketing to mainstream audiences.
Derek Webb, founder of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, comments:
“The GB online gambling marketplace is very different to the US and the EU. The 2005 Gambling Act allowed operators to stay offshore with minimal tax and regulation - effectively black-market standards. The 2014-15 changes required GB licensing with a low gambling tax rate of only 15%. The illegal sector does not compete with established brand names here. It targets the vulnerable underage and self-excluded groups, pushing the most addictive content via “Casinos not on Gamstop” marketing. Labour, responsible for the 2005 Gambling Act, has a chance to atone for the economic harms caused by electronic gambling by accepting the tax proposal of ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown.”
Ismail Vali, Founder and CEO of Yield Sec, added:
“Crime is not stupid: it understands that Great Britain is an extremely expensive marketplace to enter and produce profitability within. Crime cannot do that when competing against thousands of legal, licensed brands and their spending power across online marketing. For mainstream consumers, what possible benefit would you gain from using an illegal gambling operator in Great Britain? Illegals in Great Britain cannot beat legals across price, product or promotion, consistently. There is no good reason for mainstream consumers to use illegal gambling operators, so, crime only targets those consumers who have bad reasons for requiring illegal gambling operators: they are under 18 and they are on the GAMSTOP self-exclusion scheme. Crime loves this audience as they are now plentiful, have no legal options and are incredibly cheap to market to. Yield Sec identified this dark niche marketing via the “Not on GAMSTOP” keyphrase back in 2020, when Great Britain’s illegal gambling market share was just 0.43%. Five years later, and illegal gambling has nearly doubled its share every year to achieve 9% total market share. Nearly all of that growth is attributable to the “Not on GAMSTOP” phenomenon. The abuse and exploitation of vulnerable communities is the main thing here – the growth of crime from targeting those communities is a failure of oversight and control from those with the marketplace duty to do so.”
Click here to access the full CFG / Yield Sec Great Britain Online Gambling Marketplace National 2024 and 2025 First Half Report.
For further information please contact:
Yield Sec:
info@yieldsec.com
About The Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG):
The Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG) exists to advance a politically bipartisan and scientifically evidenced agenda of gambling reform. CFG will be active across America because the nationwide debate over gambling needs more balance and trustworthy data.
For more information, visit: https://www.fairergambling.com/
About Yield Sec:
Yield Sec, short for yield security, is a technical intelligence platform monitoring all audience activity across gambling, streaming, crypto and consumer goods to see the total online marketplace - both legal and illegal. Yield Sec delivers analysis, actions and recommendations to ensure online stakeholders make the money they should - and are not
stolen from by crime.
https://www.yieldsec.com/
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