Evolution settles £4.75m Gambling Commission black market case

• Evolution has agreed a £4.75m settlement with the Gambling Commission, concluding an 18-month licence review.
• The review found Evolution content was available via two operators on six unlicensed websites.
• Evolution said no broader pattern of unlicensed access to its content was identified.

Evolution has agreed a £4.75 million settlement with Great Britain’s Gambling Commission, concluding the licence review the regulator opened in December 2024.

The settlement centres on findings that Evolution content was available via two operators across six websites offering content to British consumers without a UK licence. Evolution said no broader pattern of unlicensed access was identified during the 18-month review.

Zero tolerance, Carlesund says

Evolution chief executive Martin Carlesund commented:

“At Evolution, we always want to do what is right, and it is not acceptable that six unlicensed sites offered Evolution content in the regulated UK market. We do not want traffic from unlicensed operators and will always move quickly to address any such situation.

We welcome the conclusion of the review and remain focused on continuing to supply our world-leading games to licensed operators in the UK,” said Carlesund.

The two operators involved “actively evaded restrictions in place at the time,” Evolution said. The company added that it terminated its commercial relationships with both immediately upon discovery.

“While no system can entirely eliminate attempts by third parties to circumvent controls, Evolution remains committed to continued investment in industry-leading compliance standards and to working constructively with regulators to address these challenges,” the company said, pointing to enhanced ring-fencing measures introduced during the review period as one of its latest safeguards.

The £4.75m settlement resolves a review opened under Section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005, after the Commission identified Evolution content reaching UK players through unlicensed sites.

That opening stage also prompted then Commission chief executive Andrew Rhodes to press licensed operators more broadly on due diligence over their supplier relationships.

The bill keeps growing

Evolution’s payment joins a run of settlements the Commission has secured from operators and suppliers this year. It hit Betfred with a £900,000 fine over harm-detection failures in June, and Rank Group disclosed this week that its own proposed settlement over the Grosvenor Casino licence carries an expected £5m provision.

Compliance costs are compounding alongside the enforcement bill.

DCMS has confirmed a 25% Gambling Commission licence fee rise taking effect from October, on top of April’s jump in Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40%.

Watching the watchers

The Commission’s compliance activity has intensified sharply, more than doubling from 4,200 actions in 2023–24 to 9,700 in 2024–25. It has opened a channel for industry feedback on reducing administrative burden, though that consultative move has not slowed the pace of enforcement.

Licensed operators sourcing live dealer product will need tougher guidance and restrictions from suppliers on how blocking and monitoring systems are tested against evasion tactics, not just assurances that content was pulled once flagged.

Evolution’s settlement gives the Commission a concrete benchmark for what it expects that evidence to look like the next time a supplier’s content turns up somewhere it shouldn’t.