The UK sports piracy scene has reached alarming levels, with a staggering 3.6 billion illegal streams of sporting events taking place in Britain over the past three years, according to a new report. The Campaign for Fairer Gambling's national 2024-25 report paints a stark picture of the challenge facing broadcasters and leagues in combating piracy.
The relationship between sports piracy and unlicensed gambling is also deeply intertwined, with 89% of illegal streams featuring adverts for black-market bookmakers. This symbiotic link suggests that pirates are increasingly using sports streaming as a way to promote their illicit betting operations, targeting vulnerable individuals who may not be able to afford regulated gambling.
The number of illegal streams has more than doubled since 2022, from 1.8 billion to 3.6 billion, with the UK's unlicensed online operators earning £379 million in the first half of 2025 alone. This represents a significant increase on their 2% market share in 2022 and puts them at risk of further fueling the problem with tax changes set to be introduced in April.
Critics argue that the Gambling Commission has underestimated the extent of the issue, and that regulatory failures have enabled unlicensed operators to thrive. Derek Webb, a former professional poker player turned Labour donor, warns that Britain is becoming a "soft touch" for organised crime, allowing global sports brands to be infected by illicit activities.
As the Premier League faces a major pirate attack on both its TV rights deals and partnerships with licensed bookmakers, it's clear that the industry must take drastic action to combat this scourge. The success of anti-piracy efforts in removing 230,000 live streams from social media platforms and 430,000 copyright-infringing links from Google is a welcome step forward but ultimately falls short of tackling the scale of the problem.
With piracy taking on a new life as a key marketing tool for unlicensed operators, regulators must rethink their approach to tackle this menace head-on. The UK's soft power in sports should not be compromised by the threat of organised crime, and it's time for bold action to be taken against those exploiting this vulnerability.
The relationship between sports piracy and unlicensed gambling is also deeply intertwined, with 89% of illegal streams featuring adverts for black-market bookmakers. This symbiotic link suggests that pirates are increasingly using sports streaming as a way to promote their illicit betting operations, targeting vulnerable individuals who may not be able to afford regulated gambling.
The number of illegal streams has more than doubled since 2022, from 1.8 billion to 3.6 billion, with the UK's unlicensed online operators earning £379 million in the first half of 2025 alone. This represents a significant increase on their 2% market share in 2022 and puts them at risk of further fueling the problem with tax changes set to be introduced in April.
Critics argue that the Gambling Commission has underestimated the extent of the issue, and that regulatory failures have enabled unlicensed operators to thrive. Derek Webb, a former professional poker player turned Labour donor, warns that Britain is becoming a "soft touch" for organised crime, allowing global sports brands to be infected by illicit activities.
As the Premier League faces a major pirate attack on both its TV rights deals and partnerships with licensed bookmakers, it's clear that the industry must take drastic action to combat this scourge. The success of anti-piracy efforts in removing 230,000 live streams from social media platforms and 430,000 copyright-infringing links from Google is a welcome step forward but ultimately falls short of tackling the scale of the problem.
With piracy taking on a new life as a key marketing tool for unlicensed operators, regulators must rethink their approach to tackle this menace head-on. The UK's soft power in sports should not be compromised by the threat of organised crime, and it's time for bold action to be taken against those exploiting this vulnerability.
I've got a major issue with the lack of action from the authorities 
. It's clear that these unlicensed operators are making bank off pirate streams & ads for black-market bookies 
. The fact that they're targeting vulnerable individuals is straight-up worrying 
. We need to see a serious crackdown on these people ASAP 
, not just some token efforts to clean up the surface level 
. I'm loving how bold @DerekWebb is being about calling out the Gambling Commission for their inaction 
... now let's see some real change!
and I couldn't help but think about how the sports piracy scene is kinda like that - it's all just people trying to get around the system, you know? Like they're all "oh yeah, I can just stream this game/ match for free" 
But really, they're just hurting themselves in the long run, just like those pirates who are getting caught and having their businesses shut down... anyway, what's your take on it? 
. But anyway, back to sports piracy. Like, seriously though, 3.6 billion illegal streams is just crazy talk! 
.
. I mean, 89% of these streams feature bookmaker ads? That's just begging to be cracked down on 
. And what's with the £379 million in profits for unlicensed operators? That's just ridiculous 
. Those social media anti-piracy efforts were a good start, but we need something more substantial 
. We need to take drastic action and show those unlicensed operators that we won't be bullied 
. Can't let organised crime get the best of us 
like 3.6 billion streams is still pretty low considering how much money sports teams & leagues make off ticket sales & merch... plus i feel bad for these unlicensed operators, they're just trying to make ends meet and get exploited by bigger players 
I'm so worried about what's going on with sports piracy in the UK! 
It's like, 3.6 billion illegal streams?! That's crazy! And it's not just about the money, it's about the people getting taken advantage of by these unlicensed operators. They're using sports streaming to promote their black-market bookmaking operations and targeting vulnerable individuals who can't afford regulated gambling. It's like, we need to protect our people from this kind of exploitation.
It's just not getting paid to those who are making the content in the first place.
. We need to support these efforts and find ways to work with unlicensed operators before we can even think about tackling them.
.
and it's enabling all these unlicensed operators to thrive 
if u ask me, it's time for bold action against them 
I mean, 3.6 billion illegal streams? That's like me watching all of Netflix in one sitting... daily 
. The thing is, I get it, piracy's a big deal, but £379 million from unlicensed operators in half a year? That's just a drop in the ocean... or should I say, a stream on the internet 
. The problem is, our regulators seem to be playing whistling in the dark 
. Like they're not aware of the whole pirate ship thing 
. We need some major league action over here 
️.
The fact that 89% of these streams have ads for black-market bookmakers is wild 
It's like the Gambling Commission is sleeping on the job or something...we need a bigger fight against this organized crime thing ASAP 
. I mean, if people are watching pirates vs legit streams then whats the point? You can say the revenue from licensed streams is higher but thats not the same as having a fair competition. Its a bit too convenient that theyre using piracy to promote black-market bookies tho... almost like theyre using it as a way to get attention 
. And I'm not buying into this "soft touch" narrative, either - just because we haven't cracked down hard yet doesn't mean we're being lax 
.
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