SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Belgian football clubs have been instructed to fully comply with new advertising rules banning the promotion of betting and gambling sponsors being displayed to audiences.
The Kansspelcommissie, the Gambling Commission of Belgium, has confirmed that it has issued direct warnings to the Pro League clubs RSC Anderlecht and Club Brugge KV.
Belgium’s two biggest football clubs have been “placed under scrutiny” as the Commission examines whether to impose severe fines for deliberately undermining new rules on sponsorships introduced on 1 January 2025.
Since 2023, the Belgian government has implemented a series of advertising reforms sanctioned by former Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne, applied as federal measure to combat gambling addiction.
Phase-1 of the order saw the government impose a ban on gambling advertising (except for the national lottery) in all public spaces and across national media platforms, including TV, radio, billboards, and newspapers.
As dictated by the government, Belgium authorities must ensure that a full blanket ban on all forms of gambling is applied by 2028.
For Belgian sports, sponsorship restrictions came into effect on 1 January 2025, prohibiting sports clubs from promoting gambling advertisers on the front of team shirts and limiting the exposure of gambling logos in stadiums.
Gambling logos can still be displayed on the back of club shirts, provided their total surface area does not exceed 75 cm². Furthermore, clubs can still collaborate with groups that promote gambling brands indirectly, such as foundations, fan networks, apps, football websites, and online broadcasts.
Anderlecht and Club Brugge are accused of circumventing the rules by enlarging the logos of their respective sponsors, Napoleon Sports and Unibet. Both clubs deny the allegations, stating that they have complied with the permitted regulations.
Other instances have seen clubs bypass the rules by altering gambling company names on jerseys to appear unrelated while still linking to betting platforms (e.g., U-experts for Unibet and Circus Daily for Circus Casino). Some clubs have also manipulated logo size rules by only counting the letters in sponsor names and ignoring spaces to stay within the limits.
Marjolein De Paepe, Communications Director of Kansspelcommissie, responded: “For the size calculation, only the total space occupied by the sponsor’s name will be taken into account, not the surface area of each individual character.”
“The concerned clubs have been informed and are required to strictly adhere to this rule. In case of further violations, the Gambling Commission may impose administrative sanctions on license holders by issuing a warning, temporarily suspending, or permanently revoking their license.”
Sponsorship restrictions are also being monitored by the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Gambling Authority of the Netherlands, which will implement a blanket ban on all gambling sponsorships from 1 July.
KSA Chairman Michel Groothuizen has reassured the Kamer (Dutch Parliament) that all “creative loopholes” will be closed to avoid a situation similar to what Belgian football has experienced as “Dutch sports will not be undermined by gambling sponsorships”
