The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has labelled accusations that its members supply the black market as ‘completely false’.
The trade body was forced to defend its members after a report from the Coalition to End Gambling Advertising (CEGA) accused five BGC-affiliated suppliers of providing content to the unlicensed gambling platforms Donbet and MyStake.
A spokesperson for the BGC told SBC: “Claims that the appearance of a supplier’s brand, logo or game title on a website is evidence that content has been supplied by that company are categorically untrue. Black market operators systematically infringe branding, intellectual property and game imagery through unauthorised use.
“Our initial enquiries have also indicated that some games displayed as being supplied by licensed providers are fake and not playable.”
CEGA’s report called for the BGC to be removed from the government’s Illegal Gambling Taskforce until it could be proven that none of its members takes part in unlicensed gambling in Britain or overseas.
Alongside the BGC, CEGA was also scathing of the Gambling Commission’s licensing process.
The investigation found that games from 18 UK-licensed suppliers were available on the platforms, including several who received a licence from the GC despite their content already being available on these sites.
This, alongside the fact that the GC has reportedly known about both sites since January 2025 without taking appropriate action, sparked the CEGA to call for UK licensing to be paused until an independent investigation of the GC’s processes can be undertaken.
Will Prochaska, Director of the CEGA, said: “It would be a scandal if games developers that hold licenses in Great Britain are confirmed to be supplying illegal gambling websites.
“The situation betrays the continuing association between gambling and crime, which the Gambling Commission has a statutory duty to prevent. Urgent reform is needed, and all new gambling licence applications should be paused whilst the Gambling Commission’s licensing regime is investigated.”
Both Donbet and MyStake are reportedly part of the Santeda International network, which is estimated to generate approximately £3.5bn annually, according to a report by GAMRS, powered by DealMeOut.
Part one of the 55-page report revealed that the network utilises multiple domains and mirror sites to evade authorities and taps into a wide affiliate network to attract players, including those who have previously self-excluded in the UK through GamStop.
Reports published on 13 and 14 June suggested that MyStake and Donbet had been blocked in the UK. However, the sites quickly reemerged and are both available at the time of writing from the UK without the use of a virtual private network (VPN).
Speaking on the iGaming Daily podcast published today (17 June), GC Executive Director Tim Miller emphasised the challenges the regulator faces in taking effective action against these types of websites, describing blocking as ‘a little bit whack-a-mole’ in its nature.
He said: “You can find them, that’s not the issue. The issue is being able to take them, especially when they’re based in other jurisdictions, and particularly in jurisdictions where there is no law enforcement cooperation. For a criminal network based in Russia, our ability to drag them into the magistrates’ courts is going to be almost zero.”
Despite this, Miller noted the importance of domain blocking and hailed the ‘important additional tool’ the commission is set to receive that will allow it to block domains at an internet service provider (ISP) level.
The Commission told SBC that it does not comment on individual operators or ongoing enforcement activity, however, it continues to use the ‘full range of existing powers’ to tackle unlicensed gambling, alongside working closely with its domestic and international partners.
The Commission added: “We are also working with domain registrars, hosting providers, social media platforms and international partners to suspend domains, disrupt payment flows, tackle aggressive marketing and prevent illegal sites from being accessed from Great Britain.
“Tackling unlicensed gambling requires a joined-up approach – between the Commission, other domestic and international regulators, licensed operators, technology platforms, financial sectors and enforcement bodies – and we will continue to strengthen that collaboration to better protect consumers.”