According to Campaign to End Gambling Ads, the Gambling Commission was told about the network in 2025. The group’s investigation was concentrated on two offshore brands connected with the network, namely MyStake and Donbet. CEGA says both sites remained accessible to users in Britain despite not holding a Commission licence. The regulator has not announced a public action against the network at the time of writing.
Supplier Exposure Becomes the Central Risk
The sharper issue is whether games from UKGC-licensed suppliers appeared on those sites. CEGA reported that there were games from 18 licensed providers, and 5 of them were linked to BGC membership.
The BGC told Bloomberg that some supplier games did not appear to work, while other examples may have involved IP theft. A real supplier connection would raise questions about distribution controls. IP theft would point to a different enforcement problem.
Based on industry reporting, several Santeda-linked sites went dark on June 14 after B2B suppliers pulled products from the platforms. That timing suggests suppliers are treating offshore exposure as a compliance risk.
Why the Timing Raises Pressure
The row comes amidst ongoing work by the House of Lords Liaison Committee into the socio-economic effect of gambling. This presents activists with an opportunity to debate the issue of whether the current enforcement model can keep illegal operators away from British consumers.
The story also has a personal angle, after CEGA highlighted the connection between Donbet/MyStake and inquests on gambling-related deaths, including the 2024 case involving Ollie Long. His brother, Chris Long, had serious concerns regarding continued access to those gambling sites.
B2B Ringfencing Is Now a Policy Test
Offshore supply has become a sensitive black market issue in Europe. The Gambling Commission opened a Section 116 review of Evolution Malta Holding Limited’s operating licence after identifying Evolution games accessible from the UK through operators without a Commission licence. Evolution says that it has ringfencing controls for Europe.
This same concept is being adopted elsewhere. According to a Rothschild Redburn note, analysts saw a similar ringfencing issue emerging in Brazil in relation to Spribe. Now, suppliers could face a choice between regulated markets or grey or black-market reach.
For the UK, this particular dispute undermines one of the key arguments in the sector. Operators often argue that higher taxes or advertising bans can push players toward offshore sites. But when offshore platforms offer licensed content within the ecosystem, this argument loses its validity.
Expert View
The Santeda case is unlikely to end with one network. The wider test is whether regulators can trace supply chains quickly, separate real partnerships from IP theft, and force providers to prove clean distribution. Without that, the black market debate will stay focused on enforcement gaps rather than consumer choice.
