Report sounds warning over affordability checks' role in growing the black market - but will it be heard?

In recent months the threat from the black market has been increasingly recognised by both the Gambling Commission and government.

Not before time, many in the racing industry would say, as it is suspected that much of the betting turnover that has been lost to the sport has headed to illegal and unlicensed operators.

The Gambling Commission has not always recognised the black market as a major issue but that appears to have changed, as was demonstrated through evidence given to the Health and Social Care select committee this month by the regulator's executive director, Tim Miller.

He told MPs one "huge change" in how the commission operates as a regulator is due to the "risk that comes from illegal overseas websites".

Miller said they had seen a trend where those who had self-excluded from gambling through the Gamstop service were being targeted by illegal websites based overseas. That had led to the commission working with the likes of Google to take down those websites.

"That illustrates the need for us to be constantly adapting and changing to the risks that people might face," he concluded.

The threat from those particular black market sites was noted in a report published last week by the gambling harm prevention charity Deal Me Out, but it was not the only issue raised.

The report found what it described as "alarming levels" of migration to unregulated gambling operators, "driven by regulation-induced frustration, social media influencers, and a lack of consumer awareness".

The black market was not just 'Not on GamStop' websites targeting the self-excluded but also included the likes of illegal betting via WhatsApp.

Among a number of reasons for this migration, the report claimed, was the imposition of affordability checks.

Gambling Commission executive director Tim Miller

"Consumers are reporting concerns about giving personal information to gambling operators," it said, "either due to their views on ‘Nanny Stating’, or they are aware they may fail checks and be blocked from gambling in the UK at the levels they have historically used."

And as racing's leadership would surely agree, "the crux of the problem is that with the growth of global black market gambling, consumers have the option to gamble without friction and regulation on the black market".

It is important to note that the report argued that affordability checks had "the potential to deliver for player protection", but it added that the evidence from respondents was "clear that affordability checks, even the notion of them, is a driver to the black market". 

The report follows a flurry of news about the black market and unlicensed gambling from across Europe and further afield which highlighted the problem and the difficulty in dealing with it.

The Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) released a report last week which described the supply of unlicensed online gambling as "large and relatively easily accessible".

According to the SGA a relatively small group of players, "probably fewer than five per cent of the total", want access to products that are unlicensed in Sweden.

However, under current legislation the SGA cannot intervene against every gambling site that does not have a Swedish gambling licence, although those regulations are being reviewed.

In the Netherlands the gaming authority there announced last week that it had intensified its action against what it described as illegal gambling apps, removing 20 such apps from stores.

"We are trying to push illegal parties further and further into a corner, with existing and ever new tools in our toolbox," the authority's chair, Michel Groothuizen, said.

Meanwhile in Brazil, which launched a fully regulated online gambling market only at the start of this year, it has been claimed that illegal operators control 60 per cent of the market.

All of which is evidence of the scale of the issue facing governments and regulators from the black market.

The Deal Me Out report described the black market as "a vast and growing threat to gambling consumers, vulnerable people, the regulated industry, and the UK economy".

While the report said the UK government and Gambling Commission were making inroads it claimed it was clear that using disruptive methods alone against black market operators "does not effectively address the problem".

An alternative route to preventing the growth of the black market is for the authorities not to push people there, something the report raises regarding affordability checks.

"Whilst we are not arguing against the inclusion of these measures, we are urging policy makers to consider the impact of regulation and how this will unintentionally provide nudge economics for the black market," it said.

British racing's leadership will be hoping the Gambling Commission, government ministers and officials at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are listening.

The runners set off for the Grand National this monthCredit: Edward Whitaker

Grand National provides plenty of food for thought

As colleague Chris Cook wrote last week, there were many lessons to be learned in the immediate aftermath of the Randox Grand National, and more emerged in the days following the event.

There was much to admire about ITV's coverage of the three days at Aintree but the team will have realised that the handling of Broadway Boy's fall could have been done better.

There was a lengthy delay before his status was mentioned after the race. The need to get the facts right was paramount but all that was needed was someone to acknowledge what viewers had seen on air and explain they would pass on news as soon as the facts had been established.

However, the need not to rush to conclusions was also demonstrated last week.

There was too much triumphalism, particularly on social media, when it appeared that Broadway Boy and Celebre D'Allen were okay after the race.

Certainly, accusing animal rights campaigners of wanting horses to be hurt is unwise and almost unquestionably untrue.

The testimony given by jockey Micheal Nolan about his ride on Celebre D'Allen should also give those rushing to condemn him cause to think. 

Viewing figures for the race were also down, which some have attributed to the safety measures which have so altered the race.

The National still attracted 60 per cent of the viewers watching television at that point, and bookmakers reported betting interest to have held up.

The falling audience is just as likely to have been down to the changes in the ways people watch sport as well as, sadly, decreasing interest in racing full stop.

Indeed, given the shift in attitudes towards animals in the near-50 years since I first watched the Grand National, there might not have been a race to watch had changes not been made.

Barber's Bullets

Flutter gets green light for Snaitech deal

Flutter Entertainment last week announced that it had received the regulatory confirmations needed for it to complete its €2.3 billion (£2bn) acquisition of leading Italian operator Snaitech.

The company said the purchase from Playtech would "consolidate Flutter's leadership position in Italy and create a position of increased scale to capitalise on the growth opportunity in Europe's largest regulated market".

Flutter expects the transaction to be completed by the end of this month.

World Pool record

World Pool produced a record-breaking day of turnover on April 5 with almost half a billion Hong Kong dollars bet across 13 races from Australia and Dubai. 

In total, turnover from World Pool bets hit HK$472.4 million (£47.6m/€53.6m) across six races on Randwick’s Doncaster Mile card and seven races from Meydan on Dubai World Cup day.

The Dubai Turf, in which Hong Kong superstar Romantic Warrior was beaten by a nose by the Japanese-trained Soul Rush, was the race that attracted the highest turnover on the day, accounting for HK$52.4m.

Grand National charity bets raise thousands

Parliamentarians failed to back Nick Rockett to win the big one at Aintree but their combined efforts raised more than £15,000 for the Betting and Gaming Council’s Grand National Charity Bet campaign.

Some 58 parliamentarians, including defence secretary John Healey MP and seven ministers, placed a charity bet on the National – a record-breaking number.

Every charity nominated by the MPs will still receive at least £250 after BGC members taking part pledged to support good causes even if their horses didn’t win. Those donations, combined with some each-way winnings, raised a total of £15,375.

Date for the diary

April 29 Entain will be the first of the major listed bookmakers to publish a trading update for the first quarter of the year. 

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