Entain pushes UK ban on unlicensed gambling sponsorship
Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain has called for the United Kingdom to prevent unlicensed gambling companies from sponsoring sport as pressure intensifies over the country’s gambling advertising rules.
The international gambling group argues companies without a Gambling Commission licence should not be allowed to use British sporting organisations to promote their brands.
The intervention comes amid a much broader political debate over gambling advertising.
A House of Lords committee this week recommended a comprehensive ban on gambling advertising, marketing and sponsorship, including restrictions affecting licensed operators.
That puts the regulated gambling industry in the United Kingdom in an unusual position.
Major operators support stronger action against offshore gambling sites but strongly oppose blanket restrictions applying equally to companies licensed and taxed in Britain.
The debate is particularly relevant to football and other sports where gambling sponsorship remains commercially significant.
Entain argues allowing unlicensed companies to obtain sponsorship exposure gives those businesses access to British consumers despite avoiding the regulatory requirements imposed on UK licence holders.
The company operates major British brands including Ladbrokes, Coral and Gala Bingo.
Britain’s Gambling Commission has stepped up its campaign against illegal online gambling in recent years, including efforts to disrupt payment processing, search visibility and advertising for unlicensed websites.
The House of Lords Liaison Committee nevertheless argues action against illegal gambling alone does not adequately address gambling-related harm associated with the regulated market.
Its September 17 report recommended a far wider advertising ban, but the British government has not committed to implementing that recommendation.
The competing proposals now leave ministers deciding whether future advertising reform should principally target the illegal market, as regulated operators want, or gambling advertising much more broadly.
Our take
Sports betting is a global business, and that makes the debate around gambling sponsorship in British sport more complicated than simply asking whether a bookmaker holds a UK licence.
Many betting brands visible on shirts, advertising boards and broadcasts in Britain do not accept UK customers. Their sponsorship is instead aimed at the enormous international audiences watching British football and other sports.
A punter in Thailand, for example, may be unable to bet with a UK-licensed betting site that does not serve that market, but could legitimately use another bookmaker operating there.
That global reach also gives smaller and mid-tier British clubs an opportunity to compete financially. Rather than relying solely on companies chasing UK customers, clubs can tailor sponsorship packages to international markets where their matches attract substantial audiences.
Regulators understandably need to prevent unlicensed operators from targeting British gamblers. But merely being visible in Britain is not necessarily the same thing as targeting the British gambling market.
