Illegal Gambling Growth: Illegal Streaming of Sports Events in Great Britain
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, January 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG) has today released its CFG GB National 2024 and 2025 First Half Illegal Streaming of Sports Events and Illegal Gambling, an update to its landmark CFG GB National 2024 and 2025 First Half Report on the online gambling marketplace in Great Britain.
As millions of sports fans watch Premier League games this month, especially in light of the Transfer Window and team and management changes, the shadow of crime is watching them. In 2024, 3.1 billion illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus (denoting a “committed view” of content) occurred across the Top 10 GB sports from GB audiences. In 2025 first half, this had reached a staggering 1.6 billion illegal stream views.
The analysis, produced by technical online marketplace intelligence platform, Yield Sec, recently acquired by Gaming Compliance International (GCI), reveals the shocking scale of the illegal streaming of sports events in Great Britain - and the evolution of a new gateway for the growth of illegal gambling.
The report reveals the mechanics of the black market: behind 89% of illegal stream views on sports in GB during 2024 and the first half of 2025 were malware, spyware, keystroke loggers, and other ID and data theft mechanics aimed at producing content for crime from the audience. While criminals profit, sports leagues and teams, such as the Premier League, and legitimate broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV, Sky, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, DAZN, UFC, WWE and Warner Bros. Discovery, are undermined and stolen from on an industrial scale.
Where this connects to online gaming is clear: 89% of illegal streaming of sports events content in Great Britain across 2024 and 2025 first half carried advertising for illegal and unlicensed gambling. It is by far the largest and most prevalent “media partner” to the criminal business of illegal streaming of sports events. As changes to the legal online gaming sector take effect in 2026, and the costs for premium sports streaming content continue to rise, the GB online gaming marketplace faces an explosive fire-meets-gasoline potential. For the first time, illegal gambling’s focus upon two core audiences in Great Britain – the underage and self-excluded gamblers on the GAMSTOP scheme – looks set to shift into promotion to mainstream audiences via the gateway of illegal streaming of sports events.
Derek Webb, Founder and Funder of CFG, said: “Great Britain is becoming a soft touch. We have allowed the global soft power of GB sports to be infected by organized criminality. Online gambling operators were irrationally permitted to stay offshore under the flawed 2005 Gambling Act. This acceptance of offshoring enabled the theoretical excuse to justify black market operations.
The Gambling Commission and the Betting and Gaming Council both ignored advice concerning the black market from Yield Sec for many years. Treasury has now provided funding to the Gambling Commission to enforce against illegal operators but their understanding is insufficient, as shown in this commentary: Howard Reed of Landman Economics.
The inquest of Ollie Long was held this week under our antiquated coronial process. Ollie suffered from gambling harm and had self-excluded from legal online gambling. He tragically fell victim to the predators promoting illegal online gambling and took his life as a consequence of the harm they inflicted upon him. The weakness of the Commission and the responsible government department, the DCMS, in dealing with gambling creates an awful burden for so many.”
Ismail Vali, President of GCI and founder and former CEO of Yield Sec, added: “Illegal online gambling in Great Britain is now knocking on the door of 10% market share and it has achieved this through the cynical exploitation of two vulnerable audiences: children and self-excluded gamblers on the GAMSTOP scheme. What does crime do with all of the money it takes by stealing from local commerce, community and consumers? It makes more crime. The investment by crime in the illegal streaming of sports events in Great Britain is clear from our monitoring and research and a shift in the predatory focus of illegal gambling is coming. That hunt will not be satisfied by underage and vulnerable audiences alone – simply because there are not enough of them to justify the marketing that is taking place across the illegal streaming of sports events in Great Britain today, conducted by one group above all others: illegal gambling. Marketplace changes and the World Cup only add to the explosive nature of the GB ecosystem during 2026. Without monitoring, policing, enforcement and optimization of online gaming and streaming marketplaces, the gateways are left open and chaos reigns without control.”
As millions of sports fans watch Premier League games this month, especially in light of the Transfer Window and team and management changes, the shadow of crime is watching them. In 2024, 3.1 billion illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus (denoting a “committed view” of content) occurred across the Top 10 GB sports from GB audiences. In 2025 first half, this had reached a staggering 1.6 billion illegal stream views.
The analysis, produced by technical online marketplace intelligence platform, Yield Sec, recently acquired by Gaming Compliance International (GCI), reveals the shocking scale of the illegal streaming of sports events in Great Britain - and the evolution of a new gateway for the growth of illegal gambling.
The report reveals the mechanics of the black market: behind 89% of illegal stream views on sports in GB during 2024 and the first half of 2025 were malware, spyware, keystroke loggers, and other ID and data theft mechanics aimed at producing content for crime from the audience. While criminals profit, sports leagues and teams, such as the Premier League, and legitimate broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV, Sky, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, DAZN, UFC, WWE and Warner Bros. Discovery, are undermined and stolen from on an industrial scale.
Where this connects to online gaming is clear: 89% of illegal streaming of sports events content in Great Britain across 2024 and 2025 first half carried advertising for illegal and unlicensed gambling. It is by far the largest and most prevalent “media partner” to the criminal business of illegal streaming of sports events. As changes to the legal online gaming sector take effect in 2026, and the costs for premium sports streaming content continue to rise, the GB online gaming marketplace faces an explosive fire-meets-gasoline potential. For the first time, illegal gambling’s focus upon two core audiences in Great Britain – the underage and self-excluded gamblers on the GAMSTOP scheme – looks set to shift into promotion to mainstream audiences via the gateway of illegal streaming of sports events.
Derek Webb, Founder and Funder of CFG, said: “Great Britain is becoming a soft touch. We have allowed the global soft power of GB sports to be infected by organized criminality. Online gambling operators were irrationally permitted to stay offshore under the flawed 2005 Gambling Act. This acceptance of offshoring enabled the theoretical excuse to justify black market operations.
The Gambling Commission and the Betting and Gaming Council both ignored advice concerning the black market from Yield Sec for many years. Treasury has now provided funding to the Gambling Commission to enforce against illegal operators but their understanding is insufficient, as shown in this commentary: Howard Reed of Landman Economics.
The inquest of Ollie Long was held this week under our antiquated coronial process. Ollie suffered from gambling harm and had self-excluded from legal online gambling. He tragically fell victim to the predators promoting illegal online gambling and took his life as a consequence of the harm they inflicted upon him. The weakness of the Commission and the responsible government department, the DCMS, in dealing with gambling creates an awful burden for so many.”
Ismail Vali, President of GCI and founder and former CEO of Yield Sec, added: “Illegal online gambling in Great Britain is now knocking on the door of 10% market share and it has achieved this through the cynical exploitation of two vulnerable audiences: children and self-excluded gamblers on the GAMSTOP scheme. What does crime do with all of the money it takes by stealing from local commerce, community and consumers? It makes more crime. The investment by crime in the illegal streaming of sports events in Great Britain is clear from our monitoring and research and a shift in the predatory focus of illegal gambling is coming. That hunt will not be satisfied by underage and vulnerable audiences alone – simply because there are not enough of them to justify the marketing that is taking place across the illegal streaming of sports events in Great Britain today, conducted by one group above all others: illegal gambling. Marketplace changes and the World Cup only add to the explosive nature of the GB ecosystem during 2026. Without monitoring, policing, enforcement and optimization of online gaming and streaming marketplaces, the gateways are left open and chaos reigns without control.”
Alastair Graham
Gaming Compliance International (GCI)
+44 7973 756932
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