Entain, the parent company of Ladbrokes and Coral and co-owner of BetMGM, has showcased new research showing the increasing proliferation of illegal operators targeting UK consumers across mainstream social media platforms.
The open-source study has detailed how the social content consumed by young men aged 14-25 is most at risk from the lure of targeted gambling promotions.
In what is a tangled web, a growing number of underground operators are embedding their brands and products within the regulated social media space. This creates a headache for regulators and confusion for users, as well as a danger to minors who should not be gambling in the first instance.
Increasing threat from illegal operators heightened with onset of the World Cup
Brands such as Stake and Rainbet were prevalent in the study, with the overall activity conflating the use of viral content, influencers, sports and gaming platforms.
With the 2026 World Cup now in full flow, the dangers are heightened, with the regulated sector demanding that more is done to tackle the problem.
Bejay Patel, Managing Director of Entain in the UK & Ireland, stated:
"As the Men's World Cup is underway, this research is a wake-up call to government, regulators and law enforcement agencies that illegal gambling promotion is not operating at the fringes but is now operating at scale in the UK with coordinated networks primed to target millions of UK fans during the tournament.
"It also raises serious questions about whether regulators and enforcement agencies have the powers and resources needed to tackle the highly coordinated illegal gambling promotion effectively, particularly across global social media platforms."
The study was conducted in May 2026 by independent OSINT researchers, with data and information collection taking place across seven major, mainstream social media platforms.
The findings recorded 72 logged entries, comprising 44 influencer or tipster entities, with the mention or inclusion of more than 30 separate unregulated, illegal gambling websites.
This is what was directly targeted at UK consumers, with an emphasis on young males.
Key findings from the OSINT report on illicit gambling promotion in the UK
There is concern that the illegal promotion was found to be readily available on expansive 'always on' social media platforms, rather than something elusive or particularly difficult to locate.
The key findings from the report included the following:
- Gambling promotion identified across Kick, Instagram, X, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Twitch - with around 20% of TikTok's UK audience estimated to be under 18.
- Global football personalities such as Sergio Agüero, Eden Hazard and Iker Casillas identified as ambassadors for the offshore gambling brands, providing mass reach and legitimacy to the unregulated operators.
- Unregulated gambling content was systematically embedded within football, gaming and manosphere culture, with key influencers including HSTikkyTokky and Ed Matthews merging gambling promotion with displays of wealth, gym culture and risk-taking.
- Almost no age verification and consumer safeguards were found, with very weak protections for users. The limited checks and balances in place were inconsistent or easily circumvented across the various platforms, with at least one operator requiring no age verification to create an account.
This latest communication from Entain is a deliberate one, as the regulated sector is increasingly aware of the threat posed by underground operators and the share of the market that it commands.
Therefore, the co-owner of BetMGM is being vocal, with other prominent mainstream operators, to demand that more action is taken by the Government and regulatory bodies.
Response from Labour peer, Baroness Twycross
In response, the Government has signalled that the call is being heard, with a crackdown on illegal gambling advertising to follow.
Baroness Twycross, the UK government's Gambling Minister, said this was the regime's priority, in a move to assist the regulated industry.
Speaking at the House of Lords Liaison Committee, Twycross stated that "we (the Government) don't have plans to legislate at this time on advertising", providing room for British bookmakers to breathe.
Off the back of significant recent pressures, including the new tax regime of 40% on online gross gambling revenue (GGR), regulatory uncertainty abounds as the outworking of the Gambling Act review continues.
This is a fluid situation with a lot of moving parts, and one of those is the incoming voluntary ban on gambling brands as the front-of-shirt sponsors in the Premier League for the incoming 2026/27 season.
"I'd like to clarify that it's a regulated licensed sector we would like to see grow at the same time as we work across the piece, both with industry, but also with bodies such as ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) and some of the social media platforms", said Baroness Twycross.
The Labour peer added that the Government aimed to "make sure that we don't push people or see people pushed from the licensed, regulated, taxed sector, through to the illegal sector".
