Entain Urges Football Regulator to Crack Down on Unlicensed Gambling Sponsorships in English Football

Gaming giant Entain has called on the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) to take immediate action against English football clubs accepting sponsorship agreements from gambling operators that are not licensed in the United Kingdom.

The owner of the Ladbrokes and Coral betting brands issued a formal statement on Thursday in response to the IFR’s Second Licensing Consultation, which concluded on Tuesday after gathering feedback on the introduction of a new club licensing framework covering the top five tiers of English football.

According to Entain, the regulator should explicitly confirm that its proposed ban on clubs receiving income “connected to serious criminal conduct” also applies to sponsorship agreements involving unlicensed gambling operators.

The company warned that several clubs in the Premier League are currently being sponsored by gambling firms that do not hold a UK licence. While some overseas operators are able to sponsor English clubs through white-label arrangements with locally licensed companies, Entain claimed that as many as six operators with no UK licence or domestic presence are actively sponsoring Premier League sides.

Entain itself maintains a significant presence within English football sponsorships. Its Ladbrokes brand serves as the official betting partner of Liverpool F.C., while Coral is the official UK betting partner of Birmingham City F.C..

In a letter addressed to the IFR, Entain Chief Executive Officer Stella David urged the regulator to intervene before the start of the 2026–27 football season in August.

“Premier League clubs are being sponsored by criminal gambling firms,” David stated. “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.”

Alongside its demand for unlicensed gambling sponsorships to be classified as “serious criminal activity,” Entain submitted three additional recommendations to the regulator.

First, the company called for a formal board attestation to be included within clubs’ mandatory annual declarations, confirming whether they hold major commercial agreements with gambling operators licensed in the UK.

The annual declaration requirement forms part of the Football Governance Act 2025, the legislation that established the IFR last year. The mechanism is intended to ensure clubs continue to comply with governance and licensing obligations.

Entain also requested that the Football Club Corporate Governance Code — another element introduced under the same legislation — should formally treat reputational risks linked to commercial partnerships as an ongoing governance responsibility for clubs.

In addition, the operator urged the regulator to issue comprehensive guidance to all licensed clubs clarifying the due diligence standards and compliance obligations associated with gambling sponsorship partners.

The debate over unlicensed gambling sponsorships has intensified following research conducted by Frontier Economics on behalf of the Betting and Gaming Council. The study estimated that approximately 1.5 million people in Britain wager around £4.3 billion annually through illegal gambling operators.

Further research commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council from marketing analysis firm WARC projected that sponsorships involving unlicensed gambling firms could represent more than half of all sports sponsorship spending in the UK by October 2027.

Amid growing concerns, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport launched a consultation in February examining the possibility of banning unlicensed gambling sponsorships across Great Britain.

However, Entain argued that the Independent Football Regulator should not wait for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport consultation process to conclude before taking action.

The company has also written to Richard Masters, urging the Premier League to introduce an immediate voluntary ban on sponsorship and advertising agreements involving unlicensed gambling operators ahead of the 2026–27 campaign.

By fLEXI tEAM