UK Betting Giants Linked to ‘Predatory’ Unlicensed Casino Network

Three giants of the UK gambling industry have been criticised for their links to an offshore online casino network that has been described as ‘predatory’.

Representatives from Entain, Betfred and William Hill, who have each warned of the dangers of the black market, operate the content firm Sports Information Services (SIS).

And SIS have penned a commercial agreement with the Santeda network of online casinos, which has previously been described by The Guardian newspaper as ‘appearing to prey on the vulnerable’ by seemingly advertising to players that are excluded from licensed casinos via GamStop.

How SIS and Santeda are Connected

The link was confirmed as part of the Casino Secrets leak, which was published by a Berlin hacker last week.

The database of the Curacao Gaming Authority was hacked, with intimate business details shared online. As well as revealing the identities of some unlicensed gambling sites that are ‘available’ to UK players, private business dealings were also included in the leak.

And that’s how the connection between SIS, a gambling content provider part-owned by Fred Done – the Betfred founder, Ladbrokes and William Hill, and Santeda was made public.

According to the confidential files, the two companies originally signed their deal back in 2022. All of which begs the question: why would UK bookmakers, who warn of the perils of black market gambling, partner with an unlicensed organisation with a history of questionable practices?

Casino Secrets Leak Reveals All

According to The Guardian, the three betting firms with an ownership interest in excess of 50% in SIS benefitted to the tune of ‘tens of millions of pounds’ from the agreement.

SIS provides partners with exclusive content for their sites, which focuses largely on horse racing, greyhound racing and esports. They also provide betting firms with the official data that they then settle their customers’ bets on.

And, according to Casino Secrets, SIS was paid a percentage of the revenues made by Santeda from losing bets.

Concerns Raised

It should be noted that the three bookmakers mentioned were unlikely to have been aware of the deal between SIS and Santeda, which would have been signed without their knowledge – the owners of said companies are not allowed to access sensitive information about their competitors.

A spokesperson for Entain, who own Ladbrokes and other UK licensed firms, commented that Ladbrokes officials were ‘not a party to the commercial or customer arrangements SIS decides to strike. Now that this relationship has come to light, we take it very seriously and have raised our concerns to SIS.’

SIS, meanwhile, remarked that they ‘only offer products where it is legal to do so and where they have the necessary regulatory licences.’

The Santeda Mystery

The comprehensive investigation into Santeda conducted by The Guardian revealed a complex network of casino sites that span from Eastern Europe to the Caribbean.

The newspaper claimed that an owner of one of the casinos in the network, MyStake, was ‘fake’, alleging that Andres Markou was an AI avatar that had been photoshopped into an image alongside Brazilian football icon Ronaldinho.

According to The Guardian and Investigate Europe, who assisted with the research, more than two million people in the UK accessed a Santeda site between November 2025 and January 2026 – despite them being unlicensed, and therefore illegal, on these shores.

A separate network of affiliate sites, which promote casinos that are ‘not on GamStop’ to UK players, feature Santeda brands prominently – targeting players that have previously self-excluded from licensed operators.

At the time of writing, nobody from Santeda had commented on the allegations.