Entain has published research laying bare the scale of unregulated gambling promotion embedded in the social media content consumed by young people in the UK.
A coordinated network of offshore gambling operators, football celebrities, influencers and gaming platforms is promoting unregulated products to UK consumers at industrial scale, with activity set to intensify as the World Cup gets underway, according to the research.
The report, based on open-source intelligence analysis conducted in May 2026, found more than 30 unregulated gambling websites with UK-facing promotional activity, including several well-known crypto casinos.
Bejay Patel, Entain UK and Ireland MD, said: “As the Men’s World Cup is underway, this research is a wake-up call to government, regulators and law enforcement agencies that illegal gambling promotion is not operating at the fringes but is now operating at scale in the UK with coordinated networks primed to target millions of UK fans during the tournament.
“It also raises serious questions about whether regulators and enforcement agencies have the powers and resources needed to tackle the highly coordinated illegal gambling promotion effectively, particularly across global social media platforms.”
Researchers logged 72 instances of promotion across 44 influencer, clipper and tipster accounts spanning seven major platforms.
The findings suggest illegal gambling promotion is no longer something consumers seek out, but that has become an “always on” presence woven into the everyday social media diet of young men aged 14 to 25, particularly through football, gaming, viral short-form video and so-called manosphere content.
Illegals ads using high-profile influencers
The research identified global football names including Sergio Agüero, Eden Hazard and Iker Casillas acting as ambassadors for offshore gambling brands, giving those operators reach into audiences of tens of millions.
At least 12 football fan and tipster accounts covering clubs including Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United were found posting identical betting tips at the same time, which researchers concluded was a coordinated affiliate campaign, with most accounts disclosing no commercial relationship.
Promotion was identified across Kick, Instagram, X, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Twitch.
Around 20% of TikTok’s UK audience is estimated to be under 18. Kick was highlighted as a central hub of the illegal gambling influencer ecosystem, hosting a dedicated gambling category with minimal age verification and acting as a launchpad for content redistributed across other platforms using referral codes, affiliate links and gamified incentives.
Researchers also found a network of AI-generated YouTube personas showing UK users how to bypass gambling restrictions, alongside services offering VPN access and identity verification workarounds.
Age verification and consumer safeguards were found to be weak, inconsistent or easily circumvented across the platforms examined, with at least one operator requiring no age check whatsoever to create an account.
Entain warned that the World Cup represents a major near-term risk, with promotional infrastructure already in place and primed to scale up as the tournament progresses.
