Research of the British streaming industry by the US-based Campaign for Fairer Gambling found that during the first half of 2025, 3.1 billion illegal stream views of 90 seconds or greater occurred across the Top 10 British sports from audiences in Great Britain. There were 1.6 billion such illegal stream views in 2024.
Behind these illegal stream views were malware, spyware, keystroke loggers, and other ID and data theft mechanics aimed at producing content for crime from the audience.
While criminals profit, sports leagues and teams, such as the Premier League, and legitimate broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV, Sky, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, DAZN, UFC, WWE and Warner Bros. Discovery, are undermined and stolen from on an industrial scale.
Additional findings
Researchers also found that illegal online gambling operators now control 9% of Great Britain’s £8.2 billion online gambling marketplace (2025 First Half).
The top four industries advertising on illegal streaming platforms were:
- Illegal gambling, present on 89% of illegal streams
- Illegal crypto, on 11% of illegal streams
- Adult entertainment, on 6%, and
- Games, present on 5% of illegal streams
Top sporting events found on illegal streaming
Produced by Yield Sec, a technical online marketplace intelligence platform recently acquired by Gaming Compliance International (GCI), the research revealed the evolution of a new gateway for the growth of illegal gambling.
Why it matters
“Illegal online gambling in Great Britain is now knocking on the door of 10% market share and it has achieved this through the cynical exploitation of two vulnerable audiences: children and self–excluded gamblers on the GAMSTOP scheme,” said Ismail Vali, President of GCI and founder and former CEO of Yield Sec.
“What does crime do with all of the money it takes by stealing from local commerce, community and consumers? It makes more crime,” said Mr Vali. “The investment by crime in the illegal streaming of sports events in Great Britain is clear from our monitoring and research and a shift in the predatory focus of illegal gambling is coming. That hunt will not be satisfied by underage and vulnerable audiences alone – simply because there are not enough of them to justify the marketing that is taking place across the illegal streaming of sports events in Great Britain today, conducted by one group above all others: illegal gambling. Marketplace changes and the World Cup only add to the explosive nature of the GB ecosystem during 2026. Without monitoring, policing, enforcement and optimization of online gaming and streaming marketplaces, the gateways are left open and chaos reigns without control.”
Further reading
GB National 2024 and 2025 First Half Illegal Streaming of Sports Events and Illegal Gambling. Report and analysis by Yield Sec™ (PDF). Released January 2026. Campaign for Fairer Gambling
The Gateway for illegal gambling growth: Illegal streaming of sports events in Great Britain. Press release and landing page. January 15, 2026. Campaign for Fairer Gambling
