Minister for Museums, Heritage and Gambling (): I am pleased to inform
the House that we have today published a consultation(opens in a new
tab) on banning unlicensed gambling sponsorship and
advertising in sport and all other sectors. This follows our
announcement in February of our intention to consult on banning
such sponsorship in the sport sector.
Under current legislation, businesses are able to enter into
advertising and sponsorship arrangements with gambling operators
that are not licensed by the Gambling Commission, so long as
those operators' services cannot be accessed by consumers in
Great Britain. Unlicensed operators achieve this by geo-blocking
their websites. However, this can be circumvented by consumers
using a virtual private network (VPN). This has become a
particular issue over the past year in the sporting sector,
particularly football, as the result of changes in the
advertising landscape.
We therefore intend to introduce a ban on unlicensed gambling
sponsorship and advertising that will target any physical forms
or manifestations of advertising or sponsorship. Within a
sporting context, this will include kit and equipment
sponsorships, pitchside billboards, tournament programmes, venue
infrastructure, and the naming of events, leagues and venues.
This will make it a criminal offence for any club, league, event,
venue, individual or related assets to advertise or be sponsored
by a gambling operator not licensed by the Gambling Commission
when operating in Great Britain. We also intend to apply this ban
to all sectors, to avoid other sectors replacing sport as an
alternative vehicle for unlicensed sponsorship.
Our rationale for change is driven by three core objectives:
-
to protect consumers, especially young people and those who
are vulnerable, from unregulated platforms that may not offer
adequate player protections or fraud recourse;
-
to defend the integrity of our domestic market by ensuring
advertising footprints are exclusive to operators who are
required to adhere to the Gambling Commission's Licence
Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP); and
-
in the sport sector, to eliminate severe money laundering
vulnerabilities within football clubs and agents that have
been explicitly flagged within our National Risk Assessment.
We believe that although most sectors and sports will be
unaffected, some sports or clubs will be impacted. For example, a
number of football clubs have or have had sponsorship deals with
gambling operators that do not hold a licence to operate in Great
Britain. Nevertheless, we want to introduce this ban as quickly
as possible. In recognition that football is the primary source
of unlicensed gambling sponsorships and advertising, our
preferred option is to implement this ban from a fixed date in
August 2027, ahead of the 2027/28 football season. This should
minimise commercial disruption and allow time to secure
legitimate replacements.
I would encourage those in this House who are interested in
gambling and sport policy, as well as relevant stakeholders, to
share their views through this consultation. I will deposit a
copy of the consultation in the Libraries of both Houses.
