Entain has called upon the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) to halt clubs from accepting gambling sponsorships from operators not licensed in the UK.
Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain issued a statement on Thursday in response to the IFR’s Second Licensing Consultation.
The consultation closed on Tuesday after seeking responses on a new club licensing regime for the top five leagues of English football.
Entain has requested that the IFR confirms its ban on clubs accepting income “connected to serious criminal conduct” covers unlicensed gambling sponsorship.
Operators without a local UK licence can currently sponsor UK teams through white label agreements with locally licensed companies, but there are also up to six operators without any UK licence or presence sponsoring clubs in the Premier League.
Entain’s Ladbrokes is the official betting partner of Premier League giants Liverpool, while its Coral brand is the UK partner of second-tier side Birmingham City.
In her letter Entain CEO Stella David urged the IFR to act before the 2026-27 season gets under way in August.
“Premier League clubs are being sponsored by criminal gambling firms,” David said. “The Independent Football Regulator can stop this tomorrow by simply acknowledging that unlicensed gambling companies targeting UK customers through English football are breaking the law – plain and simple.
“The regulator does not need any new powers, new legislation, or even a new rule to make this happen. In fact, it has already drafted one. We are asking the regulator to define and apply it before the next season begins.”
Entain’s four recommendations
Beyond confirming that unlicensed gambling constitutes “serious criminal activity”, Entain made three further recommendations for the IFR.
The operator further called for a board attestation to be added to the annual declaration to verify whether clubs hold significant commercial agreements with licensed operators in the UK.
The mandatory annual declaration was included in the Football Governance Act 2025, a bill that lead to the establishment of the IFR last year. It is intended to ensure ongoing compliance by clubs.
Additionally, Entain is urging for the Football Club Corporate Governance Code, also part of the new law, to treat reputational risks from commercial partnerships as a standing governance responsibility.
Finally, it urged for general guidance clarifying the due diligence and obligations applicable to gambling partners, to be published to all licensed clubs.
Upcoming DCMS consultation on unlicensed sponsorships
Research from Frontier Economics, commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), estimates 1.5 million Britons stake approximately £4.3 billion a year with illegal operators.
Further BGC-commissioned research by WARC projected that unlicensed gambling sponsorship could account for over half of all UK sports sponsorship spend by October 2027.
In response, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport launched a consultation on banning unlicensed gambling sponsorship in Great Britain in February.
However, Entain argues the IFR shouldn’t wait until the DCMS process has concluded to take action.
Entain has also contacted Premier League CEO Richard Masters, calling for an immediate voluntary ban on unlicensed gambling sponsorship and advertising ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Kyle Goldsmith
Kyle has been with Clarion since December 2023, joining from the world of sports journalism, subsequently becoming a LatAm-facing senior reporter with iGB.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/marketing-affiliates/sponsorship/entain-unlicensed-betting-sponsorship-uk-football/
