Unlicensed gambling firms could be barred from sponsoring Premier League clubs

Unlicensed gambling firms could be barred from sponsoring Premier League football clubs, after a string of controversies involving pornographic videos, failures in anti-money laundering rules and concerns about links to organised crime.

Shirts worn by players for several major English football teams, including Everton, Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers, feature the logos of unlicensed online casinos or bookmakers.

Premier League clubs have pledged to end all front-of-shirt gambling deals from the end of this season, including those with large operators with a licence.

But the voluntary measure will not apply to shirt sleeves or other commercial tie-ups. This leaves the door open to gambling firms who do not hold a British licence to continue hitching themselves to the popularity of the Premier League, as long as they promise not to offer their services to UK consumers.

The government said on Monday that it was consulting on a total ban on unlicensed operators, a measure considered but never introduced by the previous government.

Ministers cited concerns that some operate under lax regulatory standards that leave vulnerable gamblers unprotected and warned that some unlicensed operators have been linked to organised crime.

Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, said: “It’s not right that unlicensed gambling operators can sponsor some of our biggest football clubs, raising their profile and potentially drawing fans towards sites that don’t meet our regulatory standards.”

Everton’s deal with Stake.com, reportedly worth £10m a year, is perhaps the most controversial deal between a Premier League club and an unlicensed operator.

Stake came under scrutiny in 2022, while it still held a British licence, after the Guardian revealed the ease with which punters could use cryptocurrency to bet on the site, a form of payment that is not permitted by the UK regulator.

The company was subsequently told by Everton to stop using club branding in a promotion offering a $10 free bet to anyone who wagers $5,000 in the space of a week, amid concern about problem gambling.

Stake eventually gave up its licence last year, after an investigation by the Gambling Commission into its social media promotions, including a stunt by the pornographic “content creator” Bonnie Blue, in which she tried to have sex with “barely legal 18-year-olds” in their first year at Nottingham Trent University.

However, Stake continues to sponsor Everton.

Several operators, including Stake, held their licence via the Isle of Man-based, “white label” provider TGP Europe, which offered a gateway into UK sponsorship deals for gambling firms targeting overseas customers.

TGP also left the British market earlier this year, after it was ordered by the Gambling Commission to pay a £3.3m fine for failing to carry out sufficient checks on business partners and breaching anti-money laundering rules.

The company was the vehicle for several Premier League sponsors, including Wolves (Debet), Fulham (Sbotop) and Burnley (96.com).

TGP’s exit means none of the companies have a licence to operate in Great Britain. Northern Ireland is regulated separately. A total ban on overseas gambling sponsors would prevent them from pursuing sleeve sponsorship deals or other commercial tie-ups, which would otherwise remain open to them despite next season’s front-of-shirt ban.