SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
“The football regulator would have a wider role than currently envisaged in the Bill if the Liberal Democrats were in charge.” said Max Wilkinson MP, during the second reading of the Football Governance Bill in the House of Commons on Monday.
Wilkinson’s remarks that the Liberal Democrats would give the Independent Football Regulator (IFR), which the Governance Bill aims to set up, largely concerned one thing – gambling, and particularly the industry’s relationship with football.
This is nothing new, with gambling having already been raised as a topic by Liberal Democrat peers during the Bill’s journey through the House of Lords. Amendments proposed by Lord Dominic Hubbard, 6th Baron Addington, were either withdrawn by the peer or rejected by other Lords.
Wilkinson – who interestingly is MP for Cheltenham where one of the UK’s biggest betting events, the Cheltenham Festival week of horse racing, takes place each year – seems committed to making sure these concerns are heard in the Commons as well as the Lords.
“We believe that the Bill must go further on problem gambling,” he said during Monday’s reading. His arguments in the House raised talking points familiar to many, showing that concerns around betting marketing and visibility in sports are not going anywhere. The government, however, does not seem keen on giving the football regulator a remit over betting.
Football and betting – partnerships under pressure
The two-and-a-half year review of the 2005 Gambling Act saw betting sponsorships come to the forefront as a hot button issue. Many reform advocates, like the Labour Party’s Carolyn Harris MP, have argued for a total ban on betting sponsorships in sports.
This was a prospect even UK Conservative Party Prime Minister Boris Johnson was reportedly on board with at one point, and the Premier League is understandably the main focal point for these calls, with most clubs in the English top-flight having some form of betting partner.
In recent years, deals between clubs and offshore firms, many of which target Asian markets, operate using cryptocurrency, or both, have caught the most negative attention. With the government now keen to move forward with creating a football regulator, some legislators see a chance for the new agency to take aim at these betting sponsorship deals.
“Nearly 30,000 gambling messages were posted across the Premier League’s opening weekend this season,” Wilkinson remarked in parliament yesterday. “That represents a tripling of ads compared with the almost 11,000 recorded over the opening weekend of the season before.
“Such ads are normalising a dangerous relationship between football and gambling that is destroying lives. Football should not be a gateway drug to problem gambling.”
In 2023, 18 of the Premier League’s 20 clubs voted in favour of phasing out front-of-shirt sponsorship deals, arguably some of the most visible and the most widely criticised form of betting marketing in sports – although some studies suggest that pitch-side LED advertising is more impactful.
From the 2026/27 season onwards, no Premier League club will have a betting logo displayed on the front of its shirt. The continuing of shirt sleeve sponsorships, LED advertising, and other forms of marketing and advertising partnerships, continue to draw criticism, however.
Betting-media integrations under attack?
As stated above, many of the talking points raised by Wilkinson are nothing new. He did raise one point that is not criticised as much, however, this being the interconnectedness between media and betting.
The prospect of broadcasters setting up their own betting platforms is of particular concern for the MP, and one he would like to see the football regulator address. While he did not name names, there are some notable historical examples we can look at.
Sky Bet of course originated as a project of the Sky broadcaster before being bought by The Stars Group which was subsequently bought by Flutter Entertainment, while more recent examples include DAZN Bet and talkSPORT Bet.
Wilkinson said: “It cannot be right that broadcasters can launch their own gambling platforms, and use advert breaks to promote those platforms, using the pundits who describe the games as mouthpieces for gambling. That merger of journalism and advertising should give us all pause for thought.”
Govt remains steadfast on football regulator’s remit
For the most part, as in the House of Lords, it seems that the LIb Dems are alone in calling for the Governance Bill and the football regulator the government wants to establish to have a broader remit covering betting. Only one other MP spoke on gambling yesterday, Cameron Thomas, the Lib Dem MP for Tewkesbury.
The Gambling Act review having only concluded in April 2023, its recommendations are still being implemented and consulted on by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), and the sponsorship ban itself is still yet to come into effect.
Most MPs, and the government, are likely waiting to see what impact these changes will have before embarking on even further reform. The government also seems to want to avoid the IFR overstepping regulatory remits with the UKGC, which has more of a say on how betting sponsorships should be conducted – this was discussed by the SBC News team on the iGaming Daily podcast yesterday.
In the Commons, Lisa Nandy, UK Culture Secretary, said: “I appreciate the support and contribution of the Liberal Democrat spokesman, the Honourable Member for Cheltenham, who raised a number of issues. I am happy to meet him to discuss them further.
“He asked specifically about commercial issues. The regulator will not intervene on commercial matters such as sponsorship. The Government will continue to follow the best available evidence on the impact of gambling sponsorship in sport to inform future decisions.”
What Wilkinson’s objections in the Commons show, as Lord Addington’s did in the Lords last month, is that many legislators and policymakers feel that more needs to be done to address gambling harm in the UK, including curbing advertising.
This is an opinion shared by MPs’ local counterparts, many of which have joined together calling for new powers when dealing with the industry. These are all voices that the UK industry will need to acknowledge and work with, at some point or another, if it wants to secure a sustainable future in one of Europe’s biggest betting markets.
