Published on 29th June 2016 by Andrew Mills

The Gambling Commission (GC) has issued a warning to UK operators about to novelty betting markets with relation to pre-recorded television shows.Programme Director, Enforcement and Intelligence for the Gambling Commission, Richard Watson, mentioned The Great British Bake Off and Strictly Come Dancing specifically in his letter to operators.The popularity of these shows is huge and only looks set to grow over coming years, but there are worries from the GC that there is an ability to cut corners from those directly involved with the programs.

BBC concerns

BBC lawyers last year voiced concerns over the offering of odds on the outcome of pre-recorded episodes of The Great British Bake Off in a letter to bookmakers.It was reported in the Sun that Ladbrokes had opened an investigation after it was discovered that 42 new accounts had been opened by people with connections to BBC workers, and to Love Productions who independently produce Bake Off. There was a total of 529 bets through suspicious accounts taken by Ladbrokes.There was also an instance in 2011 in which singer Alesha Dixon, who won Strictly Come Dancing in 2007, claimed that one of the show’s producers won £8,000 by betting on her to win the series. 

Issues of integrity

In the letter, the GC said:“There have been repeated instances of operators offering markets on pre-recorded television programmes such as the Great British Bake Off, Strictly Come Dancing and other novelty markets, following which media reports emerge that suggest there are issues of integrity.“In a world of social media and rapid communication, the outcome of these markets is likely to be known to an ever-expanding group of consumers before the result is formally announced. We therefore require operators of these markets to demonstrate a robust management of the associated risks in order to ensure they uphold the licensing objectives.”