There are some that believe that gambling is the root of all evil, seeing it as nothing more than the leeching of people’s hard-earned wages to make others rich. Many disagree, feeling that people are going to gamble anyway, so why not allow them to do so in their own time? Others sit somewhere in the middle, understanding the freedom that people have to spend their money how they wish, but also being aware of the ways in which gambling can cause harm.
The Premier League has allowed gambling sponsors for years, but has it got itself mixed up in a tangle of trouble?
Four Clubs Given Warnings
In the middle of the May of 2025, the Premier League issued warnings to Bournemouth, Fulham, Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers over the fact that they were sponsored by an unlicensed gambling business. From the start of next season, they will also be joined by Burnley, who have won promotion from the Championship. In all five cases, the clubs have been sponsored by betting websites that are run by a company called TGP Europe, which surrendered its licence to operate in the United Kingdom after failing to carry out checks and breaches of its anti-money laundering rules.
The clubs were sent a letter by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission that they ‘may be liable to prosecution’, should it transpire that they have promoted unlicensed gambling companies that carry out transactions with British consumers. In the 2024-2025 season, Bournemouth were sponsored by bj88, SBOTOP were Fulham’s shirt sponsor, DEBET could be seen on the shirts of Wolverhampton Wanderers and FUN88 were the ‘official Asian betting partner’ of Saudi Arabian-owned Newcastle United, having been the shirt sponsor of the Magpies between 2017 and 2023.
It wasn’t the first time that clubs in the Premier League had been contacted by the UKGC, given the fact that Everton were spoken to over their sponsor Stake, Nottingham Forest were warned about their deal with kaiyun and Leicester City were told about BC.GAME, with each of those sites being owned and operated by TGP Europe. In spite of the warning, they have remained on the clubs’ shirts in the months since. The Gambling Commission wrote to the clubs, saying, “We would advise that any organisation engaging in sponsorship from brands that do not hold a Commission licence manage their exposure to risk.”
Why the Sites Exist
One of the big problems that the Premier League has is that it is one of the most widely watched leagues in the world. As a result, there are millions of eyes on every single match, meaning that there is a desire from some companies to be able to sponsor the teams playing in the English top-flight, even if it isn’t the English audience that they’re looking to gain the attention of. Even when the various companies were first formed, they were essentially just a shell. They paid TGP Europe for the use of the company’s licence so as to be able to operate in the United Kingdom, but they don’t want UK-based customers.
The sites were only in existence in the first place in order to allow the various companies to sponsor Premier League teams, but it was done so as to be able to appeal to a foreign audience. There was never a desire to be able to win over British punters, which could be seen in the fact that the sites were never good to use. They would regularly crash, sometimes for several days at a time, whilst the odds on offer were generally much poorer than you’d be able to get from elsewhere. They didn’t want people to sign up, so the lack of a licence was the least of the issues.
No More Gambling Sponsors
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The good news for those that don’t like gambling being used as advertisers on the kits of Premier League teams is that they will not be able to do so from the start of the 2026-2027 season onwards. In the April of 2023, top-flight teams collectively agreed to put a ban on gambling companies being able to sponsor shirts. Although gambling companies will still be able to feature their branding on shirt sleeves and advertising hoardings, it is at least a step in the right direction as far as those against the use of gambling sponsors in football are concerned. Although it will be too little, too late for some people, it remains a positive move forward for the victims of gambling.
The result of the forthcoming ban is that Premier League teams will surely begin to move away from having gambling sponsors sooner rather than later. Add into that the fact that so many have had to be warned about their links to companies that aren’t even licensed to operate and it’s easy to see why there is a drive to move away from betting sponsors altogether. The global appeal of the English top-flight is obviously great news in terms of the league’s popularity, but if it means companies that don’t even want to appeal to English markets coming to the fore then it is maybe worthy of a rethink.