Black market set to take £500m on jump racing, BGC warns

Gambling Commission disruption notices have not produced a lasting fall in illegal traffic, IFHA says.

The hit

Illegal bookmakers are set to take around £500 million in bets during Britain’s 2026-27 National Hunt season, the Betting & Gaming Council has warned. The trade body expects £10 million to be staked illegally at this weekend’s Cheltenham November Meeting alone, & did not say how it calculated the figures.

Why it matters

For bettors, unlicensed sites skip age checks, anti-money laundering rules & safer gambling tools that licensed operators must run. According to the BGC, they also pay no UK tax & put nothing back into racing.

The record

Illegal stakes forecast for 2026-27 jump season	£500m (BGC)
Illegal stakes expected at this weekend’s Cheltenham meeting	£10m (BGC)
Unlicensed vs licensed site visits, Jan-Jul 2026	19.4 visits per 100, up from about 1 per 100 in late 2021 (IFHA)
Rise across 32 sites taking bets on British racing	almost 7-fold (IFHA)
Cease-&-desist or disruption notices issued since April 2024	over 3,100 (Gambling Commission)
Illegal stakes forecast, 2026 to 2028	£17bn rising to over £33bn (H2 Gambling Capital)

What happens next

Safer Gambling Week runs 16-22 November, with the King George VI Chase, Cheltenham Festival & Grand National still to come this season. BGC chief executive Grainne Hurst says the BGC will keep working with the government & Gambling Commission to tackle the black market.

Sources: Black market set to take £500 million on jump racing season, BGC warns

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