UK government proposes gambling sponsorship ban for unlicensed operators
Online operators licensed by the Gambling Commission would be allowed to sponsor British sports clubs.
UK.- The UK government has announced a consultation on plans to ban sponsorship deals between sports clubs and gambling operators that don’t hold British licences. It will also create a new cross-industry taskforce bringing together social media platforms, banks and law enforcement.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said new sponsorship restrictions would stop unlicensed firms using Premier League clubs as a platform to appeal to British audiences. This would strengthen player safeguards and “eliminate unfair competition for properly regulated firms,” it said.
Under the proposal, gambling companies that don’t hold a licence from the British Gambling Commission would be prohibited from entering into any sponsorship arrangements with British sports clubs. That would include those in the Premier League, where a number of clubs currently carry sponsorship from operators not licensed in Great Britain.
The Premier League has voluntarily agreed to remove gambling sponsorship from the front of shirts by the end of the current season. However, under the voluntary commitment, gambling sponsorship would still be permissible in other locations, such as shirt sleeves.
The DCMS says this means that unlicensed operators can still gain a “major presence in the country’s most-watched sports league”. The new mandate from the DCMS would seek to limit this to Gambling Commission-licensed companies only.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “When placing a bet on the big match, fans deserve to know the sites they’re using are properly regulated, with the right protections in place. 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.”
New gambling taskforce
Meanwhile, the DCMS will also create a taskforce whose members would comprise representatives from social media platforms, banks and law enforcement. It said the aim was to improve cross-agency collaboration to stop illegal operators advertising on social media platforms and prevent payments to unlicensed sites. This was an area that outgoing Gambling Commission CEO Andrew Rhodes has raised concerns about.
This initiative is separate from the consultation on the sponsorship restrictions, which will start in the spring.
Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross said: “We know the real harm that unregulated gambling can cause, exploiting vulnerable people and leaving consumers without the protections they deserve. This consultation, alongside the work of our Illegal Gambling Taskforce, shows how seriously this government is taking the issue. We will not hesitate to act where we see people being put at risk.”
