A few years ago, gambling lobbyists the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) commissioned Yield Sec (YS) to report on the British illegal market. It identified the risk of the black-market pertaining to the targeting of vulnerable underage and self-excluded groups. But this was ignored by the Gambling Commission, and the BGC chose not the publish the report of its top-line findings as it did not fit with its agenda-driven framing of the black market, which it was using to argue against regulation.

The BGC then commissioned Frontier Economics to conduct an analysis of the black market. That study used survey data, which is far inferior to the military-grade surveillance approach of YS. A subsequent report by the trade-aligned company Deal Me Out used a far less reliable survey method. CFG-commissioned analyses by Landman Economics of these two reports here and here.

The BGC opposes the official Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB), ostensibly due to the survey methodology. The reality is they do not like the results, which show 2.5% of the adult population is in the highest harm group. This all suggests the BGC is prepared only to endorse surveys that align with their agenda, while it refutes those that do not. Its research is agenda-driven rather than evidence-based, in the service of commercial interests, and should not inform policy.