Gambling Commission Warns Suppliers: “No More Excuses” for Black Market Ties

The chief executive of the Gambling Commission has issued a stark warning to iGaming suppliers, declaring there will be “no more warnings” for those providing games or software to unlicensed black market operators alongside those regulated in Great Britain.

Speaking at the regulator’s annual CEO Briefing last week, Andrew Rhodes reinforced his message that gambling operators must carry out proper due diligence on all B2B suppliers of content and technology. The warning follows a series of enforcement actions, with nine recent suspensions linked to software provision and self-exclusion failures.

“There are no excuses. We will not accept any excuses. And you should, as a sector, expect to see more enforcement action in the coming weeks and months,” Rhodes said.

“We’ve been working on this area very actively, and we don’t intend to stop.”

The warning comes amid ongoing scrutiny of B2B suppliers accused of serving both the regulated and unregulated markets, following last year’s investigation into Evolution. In December, the regulator identified Evolution titles being accessed from the UK via unlicensed operators. A resolution to the case is expected in the coming weeks.

Rhodes also addressed concerns surrounding white label partnerships within the British market, particularly regarding unlicensed entities sponsoring football clubs.

“The Commission thinks it is wrong that people are sponsoring football clubs who don’t have a licence in this country. We just think that is wrong,” he said.

“But it is not necessarily automatically an infringement of the licensing objectives, because if they are not taking any traffic from Great Britain, it is difficult to see how that would be an infringement, but our analysis is demonstrating that it is not quite as clear-cut as that.”

He added that enforcement action has already prompted some white label providers to exit the UK market, but said the Commission is continuing to work closely with government to identify a “more strategic solution”.

“The good news is the Government is very, very supportive of that,” Rhodes said. “We’ve had genuine, grown-up conversations about how the world has moved on. Enforcement action has been taken in relation to some white label providers, which has meant they have exited the market.”

Rhodes concluded that greater collaboration and strategic reform — not simply heavier enforcement — will be key to ensuring fairness and accountability within Britain’s regulated gambling industry.

“The answer cannot always be about expecting more and more from the Commission’s limited resources where a more strategic solution could be put in place,” he said.

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