UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has announced plans for the government to consult on a prospective ban to prevent unlicensed gambling operators from entering sponsorship deals with sports teams across Great Britain.
Currently, operators not locally licensed in the UK are able to sponsor UK teams via white-label partnerships with locally licensed companies. However, under the government’s mooted plans, new laws would be put in place to halt such agreements.
Only operators that hold a UK licence would be allowed to form a partnership with sports teams and clubs, including those in English football’s top-tier Premier League.
There have been calls for tougher rules on gambling sponsorships for some time. The issue was brought to the fore in February 2025 when Stake lost its UK operating licence but continued to sponsor Premier League football club Everton indefinitely.
Several UK clubs, including Bournemouth, Sunderland and Wolverhampton Wanderers, have shirt sponsorship deals in place with white-label partners.
Nandy said it is important the government put a stop to this activity. She highlighted how operators not permitted to offer gambling within the UK do not face the same regulatory restrictions as licensed brands and could therefore pose more risks to consumers.
“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,” Nandy said “It’s not right 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.”
Government ‘will not hesitate’ to act
The consultation on gambling sponsorships will launch this spring. It will seek input from a range of stakeholders, including those from within the professional sports world and the gambling industry.
In announcing the consultation, the government made clear clubs are not currently acting unlawfully in maintaining sponsorship arrangements with unlicensed operators.
However, given how brand visibility could drive players towards unlicensed sites operating outside the Gambling Commission regulatory protections, a ban would reduce this traffic and offer more protection to consumers.
“We know the real harm that unregulated gambling can cause, exploiting vulnerable people and leaving consumers without the protections they deserve,” Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Museums, Heritage and Gambling) Baroness Twycross said.
“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.”
The proposed ban forms part of a wider initiative to tackle unlicensed activity in the UK. In January, the government launched an Illegal Gambling Taskforce, which will work with major companies including Google, Mastercard, TikTok and Visa to clamp down on illegal gambling.
Led by Baroness Twycross, this will focus on stopping illegal operators advertising on social media platforms, preventing payments to unlicensed sites and strengthening cross-agency collaboration.
Building on shirt sponsorship ban
From the end of the 2025-26 season, front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship will be banned in the Premier League. However, the rules will still permit operators, including those without a licence, to place sponsorship on players’ sleeves.
Speaking to iGB in May 2025, various stakeholders said that UK Premier League gambling sponsorships would look different after the front-of-shirt ban. Operators like Bet365 have sought to forge sponsorship deals with football competitions to expand beyond team sponsorship deals and ensure brand visibility once shirt sponsors are gone.
“I think there will still be immense value in a betting partnership with a football club,” said one legal source active in the gambling sponsorships space.
“The sleeve is still available, the LEDs are still available and, outside of the UK, using players to promote your brand is still available. It really depends on the structure of the deal, but if it’s a global deal, then I think there’s as much value in that.”
The government’s move doesn’t come as a surprise, as last year both the UK government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Gambling Commission said the current white-label sponsorships model was under investigation.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/marketing-affiliates/uk-ban-unlicensed-gambling-sponsorship-sport/
