Illegal betting site traffic is falling but levels remain high

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) said that tougher measures against unlicensed betting sites may have had an initial effect on website traffic. The authority stressed, however, that visit levels remain high and that a longer-lasting decline in illegal traffic is needed.

A spokesperson for the organisation said the Gambling Commission has increased staff and enforcement activity focused on the illegal market. The BHA welcomed additional government funding for the regulator and linked part of the fall in traffic to the increased resources. The spokesperson also suggested that some customers may have returned to licensed operators after poor experiences. However, traffic data alone does not show the cause of the change, and it does not track individual customers' movements between operators.

The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities examined visits to 301 betting websites offering horse racing from internet addresses in the UK. The sample included 74 licensed and 227 unlicensed sites. In the period from January to July 2026, unlicensed sites recorded 19.4 visits for every 100 visits to licensed sites. This ratio was 26.6 in 2025. In the August to December 2021 period, there was roughly one visit for about every 100 visits.

The federation stressed that the measure does not reflect betting amounts, customer accounts or individual movements between operators, and should not be treated as traditional market share. According to the report, while the 2026 decline may be due to enforcement, changes in search visibility, domain switching, the timing of sporting events or normal fluctuations may also have played a part. The BHA said it supports a proposal, consulted on by the government in 2026, to ban sponsorship and advertising by unlicensed operators.