United Kingdom: towards a ban on sports sponsorship by unlicensed betting operators

News Tank Football - Paris - News #431724 - Published on 24/02/26 at 13:00

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The logo of unlicensed bookmaker Stake on Everton's kit - © Everton FC

The British government plans to ban sports sponsorship by all unlicensed betting operators in the United Kingdom, announced the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on 23/02/2026.

This measure, which is part of a broader reform project aimed at tackling the illegal gambling market, seeks to prevent unlicensed operators from "using Premier League Top English professional football division. 20 clubs. clubs as platform to appeal to British audience." A taskforce bringing together social media platforms, banks and law enforcement is to be set up to combat the exposure of supporters to illegal offers. The British government also plans to launch a consultation with all parties involved "in the spring of 2026."

This provision, which would apply to Premier League clubs, among others, could jeopardise certain existing sponsorship agreements. Of the 20 clubs participating in the English top flight in 2025-26, more than half (11, i.e. 55%) have a bookmaker as their main shirt sponsor. However, only two of these are under contract with licensed operators: Nottingham Forest FC Activity: English professional football clubPrincipal partners:• adidas (equipment manufacturer) equipment supplier since 2023-24• Bally's Corporation (gambling, betting): main shirt sponsor, in… (with Bally's) and Sunderland AFC Activity: English professional football club Main partners:• Fanatics (retail): official retail partner until 2034• Hummel (equipment supplier): since 2024-25• W88 (betting): main shirt sponsor in… (with SpreadEx).

The 2025-26 season is the last in which Premier League clubs are allowed to display a sports betting operator as their main shirt sponsor. Despite there being no legislation requiring them to do so, the English top flight clubs have collectively agreed to a ban on such agreements from the 2026-27 season, as announced by the English League on 13/04/2023. This voluntary compromise was meant to allow clubs to be exempt from future, stricter UK government legislation.

"However gambling operators, including those that are unlicensed, are currently able to strike deals, including logos on shirt sleeves, that give them a major presence in the country’s most-watched sports league," said the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, pointing out that while such agreements are not illegal, "such brand visibility could drive consumers towards unlicensed sites operating outside the Gambling Commission’s regulatory protections," thus justifying the need to ban sports sponsorship for all unlicensed bookmakers.

Stake.com, an Australian online sports betting operator based in Curaçao, had its licence as an authorised UK gambling operator revoked in March 2025 following the circulation of a video featuring a creator of pornographic content and in which the Stake logo appeared, on the social network X.
The bookmaker, which has been the main shirt sponsor of Everton FC Activity: English professional football club Main Partners: • Stake.com (sports betting): main shirt sponsor, since 2022-23 (£10m/season)• Hill Dickson (law firm): Bramley-Moore Dock stadium… since the 2022-23 season (in return for an annual fee of £10m/€11.6m), remained authorised to appear on the English club's kits.

United Kingdom: no measures against gambling operators in the Football Governance Bill

The Football Governance Act 2025, proclaimed into law after receiving Royal Assent on 21/07/2025, does not include any specific measures against bookmakers.

Among the 375 amendments proposed to the initial text, which was introduced in the House of Lords at first reading on 24/10/2024, one aimed in particular to introduce an obligation for the future regulator to prohibit professional football organisations from entering into advertising or sponsorship contracts with companies in the gambling sector. This was not adopted (74 votes in favour, 339 against).

Premier League: 11 of the 20 clubs (55%) have a bookmaker as main shirt sponsor in 2025-26

Sports betting: sponsorship regulations in force in Europe's Top 5 and Belgium

"18 European men's top divisions have bans or restrictions in place on kit sponsorship agreements with gambling companies," said UEFA Union of European Football Associations in the 14^th edition of its annual report "The European Club Finance and Investment Landscape" published on 10/02/2024. Two other countries have since implemented dedicated measures. Within the European Top 5 and in Belgium, the following regulations apply:

• In England, Premier League clubs collectively accepted a ban on displaying a sports betting operator as a main shirt sponsor from the 2026-27 season, on 13/04/2023.

• • In Italy, the Dignity decree-law, which came into force for the 2019-20 season, prohibits clubs from entering into sponsorship agreements with gambling operators at the domestic level. The FIGC Federazione Italiana di Giuoco Calcio, the Italian Football Federation. and the Lega Serie A "Lega Nazionale di professionisti di Serie A". Professional League which manages the Italian first division and including its 20 clubs. called on the Italian authorities to review this ban in January 2025, but no concrete action has been taken as of 24/02/2026.

• In Spain, Royal Decree 958/2020 has prohibited clubs from displaying bookmakers as shirt sponsors since the start of the 2021-22 season. In 2020-21, eight teams displayed a betting operator on their kit, seven of them as a main shirt sponsor.

• In France, the National Gambling Authority (ANJ Autorité Nationale des Jeux (English: "National Gambling Authority")

• Independent administrative authority created on 01/01/2020, launched on 23/06/2020 and responsible for the regulation of… ) set up a working group dedicated to sponsorship in July 2022. It made seven recommendations to regulate the sponsorship activities of bookmakers, including a ban on displaying a gambling operators on shirts intended for minors, on 01/06/2023, but no such measures have yet been adopted.

• In Germany, no restrictions are applied or under consideration. The presence of sports betting operators is less pronounced than in other leagues: no club has a betting company as a main shirt sponsor (compared with just one in 2024-25: VfB Stuttgart Activity: German professional football club Main sponsor:• LBBW (bank): main shirt sponsor since 2025-26 Exclusive partners: • Mercedes-Benz (car manufacturer) • Jako (equipment supplier)… , with Winamax Sector: French online betting and gaming operator Founded: 2006 Player accounts: 5.9 million in France and Spain Shareholding: Marc Simoncini (Meetic), Alexandre Roos (Caramail), Christophe… ).

• In Belgium, a Royal Decree issued by the Belgian government has formalised the ban on advertising for gambling, including sports betting and online casino operators, in stadiums from 01/01/2025, and on the shirts of professional clubs from 01/01/2028.

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