Half of Premier League Clubs Face Losing Gambling Sponsors Under Ban Plans

^{Everton have a three-year sleeve sponsorship deal with the online crypto casino Stake.com, one of ten Premier League clubs with commercial ties to operators unlicensed in the UK. (Photo: Action Plus Sports Images / Alamy Stock Photo)}

Ten of the Premier League's 20 clubs have sponsorship or advertising deals with gambling companies unlicensed in the UK, arrangements that could become illegal under government plans being consulted on this year, according to reporting by the Guardian, citing a report from the Guardian.

An eight-week government consultation on banning sponsorship from operators not licensed by the Gambling Commission closes on Wednesday. The proposal pits UK-licensed operators, including Ladbrokes and William Hill, against Premier League clubs that argue the ban would strip them of tens of millions of pounds in commercial revenue.

Analysis cited by the Guardian found the number of top-flight clubs with commercial ties to unlicensed operators has risen from six to ten over the summer, a jump attributed in part to the Premier League's own voluntary ban on front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship, introduced this season, which pushed some deals onto sleeves, training kit and perimeter advertising instead.

Sponsorship Deals Move to Sleeves and Training Kit

Everton signed a new three-year sleeve sponsorship with the crypto casino Stake.com, which is based in Australia and licensed in Curaçao. Fulham moved its sponsorship with SBOTOP from players' shirts to the club's training kit. Eight further clubs, including Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, have deals covering stadium perimeter advertising or player branding.

One operator, 8XBet, licensed in Curaçao, has commercial arrangements with five clubs: Chelsea, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Ipswich Town and Coventry City.

The Campaign for Fairer Gambling estimates unlicensed operators took in £379m from UK users in the first half of 2025, giving them roughly 9% of Britain's £8.2bn online gambling market, up from about 2% in 2022. Unlike Gambling Commission-licensed firms, unlicensed operators are not required to run affordability checks, deposit limits or Gamstop self-exclusion.

Ladbrokes Owner Writes to Clubs Over Sponsorship

Entain, which owns Ladbrokes, wrote to all ten clubs with unlicensed sponsors this week urging them to reconsider the arrangements. Its letter to Everton stated: "The risk to football, sport integrity and society is real. Unlicensed operators are not required to offer the safeguards that licensed operators must, including Gamstop self-exclusion, deposit and spending limits, and affordability checks."

"The risk to football, sport integrity and society is real."

The Premier League is reportedly lobbying against a ban, arguing that the operators involved primarily target Asian markets and are not formally available to UK consumers, a stance similar to the one it took over shirt sponsorship changes, although the services can be accessed in practice with little more than a VPN.

The government has said its clampdown is aimed at consumer protection, with unregulated gambling linked to financial harm as it grows within an otherwise tightly regulated market. A decision on the sponsorship proposal is expected once the consultation, which closes 9 September, has been reviewed by ministers.