Unlicensed gambling operator sports sponsorship to be banned

On 23 February 2026, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) confirmed that it will run a consultation on the introduction of a ban on gambling operators that do not hold a licence with the Gambling Commission of Great Britain from sponsoring British sports teams.  

What is the law currently?

Last year - as we explained here - gambling sponsorships in English football (especially those involving overseas operators using white-label partnerships) went under the regulatory microscope, following public criticism and a regulatory investigation that led to TGP Europe exiting the UK market. 

Section 33 of the Gambling Act 2005 makes it a criminal offence to provide facilities for gambling without a licence, but s.36 of the Act provides that s.33 only applies to remote gambling (e.g. via the internet) if: (a) the gambling facilities are used in Great Britain (for example, if bets are accepted from customers located in Great Britain); and/or (b) “remote gambling equipment” (e.g. servers or systems used to store gambling-related data, present virtual events, determine outcomes, or store results) are located in Great Britain, even if the facilities are not used in Great Britain. 

Section 330 of the Act makes it an offence to advertise, including by means of entering into a sponsorship arrangement, “unlawful gambling” (essentially gambling for which a licence is required under the Act).

The combined effect of the above is that – as the law currently stands - so long as an operator is not accepting bets from end users in Great Britain and does not have any remote gambling equipment located in the jurisdiction, the operator is not providing gambling facilities within the jurisdiction, does not require a licence from the Commission, and any sports club it is sponsoring could not, therefore, be advertising unlawful gambling.

What is going to change?

What some refer to as a ‘legal loophole’ is now set to change, with DCMS announcing that it will implement changes that mean that operators must hold a licence with the Commission in order to sponsor British sports clubs. 

In its press release, DCMS states that the consultation is due to be launched in Spring 2026. There is scant detail as to the scope of the ban, with DCMS simply stating that “the new measures would mean gambling companies without a UK licence would be restricted from entering into any sponsorship arrangements with sports clubs”, or how it will be implemented; although our assumption is this must be via the introduction of a new regulatory or statutory offence (in which case how soon this will be will depend on when parliamentary time allows).

Impact on the black market 

DCMS states in the press release that the ban  “will mitigate the risks associated with the illegal market, and help eliminate unfair competition for properly regulated firms”. This focus on the black market is echoed by quotes from Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross respectively that “it’s not right that 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” and “we know the real harm that unregulated gambling can cause, exploiting vulnerable people and leaving consumers without the protections they deserve”.

Whilst this may be true in some cases, such statements - and much of the reporting on the ban since it was announced - partly miss the legal reality. Yes, there will no doubt be some unlicensed operators that are active in sponsorship in the UK that do accept bets from British customers illegally, and the ban will end this. However, the ban is broader than that. The ban is in respect of all unlicensed operators sponsoring clubs in Great Britain. An unlicensed operator could be effectively blocking British customers and, in line with current laws, therefore not committing an offence under the Act. The ban will mean that any such operator – even though it is acting legally under UK law – will be prohibited from sponsoring British clubs.