Football regulator urged to ban Premier League clubs from unlicensed gambling money

The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has been urged to stop Premier League clubs from accepting sponsorship from gambling companies unlicensed in the UK in the latest public consultation over its licensing regime.

Entain, the global sports betting company that owns Ladbrokes and Coral, has submitted a response to the IFR asking for a clarification of its guidance that would prevent clubs from doing commercial deals with operators unlicensed in the UK.

Of this season’s Premier League clubs Everton (Stake), Sunderland (W88), Fulham (SBOTOP), Bournemouth (bj88) and Burnley (96.com) have shirt sponsorship deals with gambling companies not licensed in the UK, and 18 of the 20 clubs have shown advertising for unlawful operators on LED boards at their ground this season.

The Premier League is bringing in a voluntary ban on front-of-shirt sponsorship from gambling companies next season, but is not clamping down on the unregulated market, which generates £4.3bn a year in Britain according to research from the Betting and Gaming Council.

Entain’s chief executive, Stella David, wrote to her counterpart at the Premier League, Richard Masters, in February proposing a meeting, which has yet to take place.

In her letter David pointed out the symbiotic relationship between sports piracy and unlicensed gambling, which has the potential to damage the competition’s lucrative broadcast model that funds the clubs, with the combined TV rights deals worth about £12bn, of which £6.7bn is from the UK.

The Campaign for Fairer Gambling’s national 2024-25 report said that 89% of illegal streams in the UK, which have more than doubled to 3.6bn in the past three years, feature adverts for bookmakers unlicensed in the UK.

Premier League clubs are free to accept sponsorship income from operators unlicensed in the UK and several are expected to move existing front-of-shirt deals to kit sleeves next season, including Everton and Stake.

The online casino was licensed in the UK until last year when it gave up its licence amid a review from the Gambling Commission into its practices, after Stake’s use of a promotional video featuring the porn actor Bonnie Blue.

Entain’s submission is a response to the IFR’s second licensing consultation, which closed this week, seeking views on a club licensing regime for the top five tiers of English men’s football, from the Premier League to the National League.

The IFR’s draft licensing code prohibits English clubs from accepting income “connected to serious criminal conduct”, and Entain is asking the regulator to confirm that covers gambling companies operating without a licence in the UK.

Under section 33 of the Gambling Act 2005 operators unlicensed in the UK are committing a criminal offence if they accept bets from British consumers.