Entain warns of coordinated illegal gambling promotion ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the UK

Entain says the UK black market is not just present online; it is organized, visible, and already preparing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. For regulated operators and their payment partners, the point is simple: illegal traffic is being driven by the same digital channels where customer acquisition happens.

1. A new study cited by Entain, conducted by independent OSINT researchers, says illegal gambling promotion is spreading across social media through “coordinated networks of influencers, tipsters and content accounts.” The report describes this as a setup ready to push high-risk illegal gaming products during the World Cup, which Entain called a “major near-term risk.”
2. After examining seven of the most popular digital platforms, the researchers identified over 30 unregulated gambling websites using a highly organized promotional ecosystem. They found 72 instances of UK-facing promotion from those sites, with activity spread across Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, Kick, TikTok and Twitch.
3. Some of the unlicensed platforms targeting the UK market had already begun producing World Cup-related content before the event starts. The report also says some of these operators had agreements with major soccer personalities including Sergio Agüero, Eden Hazard and Iker Casillas, which gave the brands more mass appeal and a veneer of legitimacy.
4. The research found that black market operators were using AI-generated YouTube personas to teach users how to use tools like VPN to bypass the United Kingdom’s gambling restrictions. It also flagged the manosphere as a clear vector for illegal gambling promotion, with young men identified as a particularly vulnerable audience.
5. Entain’s UK and Ireland managing director Bejay Patel said the findings should be a “wake-up call to government, regulators and law enforcement agencies.” He argued that illegal gambling promotion is no longer operating at the fringes but is actively competing with the regulated market, while the report raises questions about whether regulators and enforcement agencies have the powers and resources to deal with the scale of the activity.

For PSPs, acquirers and banks, the practical takeaway is not abstract. If unregulated gambling brands can use the same social platforms, creator networks and affiliate-style content loops as licensed operators, then source-of-traffic review, merchant monitoring and jurisdiction-specific controls matter long before a chargeback or compliance problem shows up.