Entain takes campaign against unlicensed gambling ads direct to Premier League clubs

The gambling giant’s general counsel has written to six Premier League Clubs to seek a commitment to deals with UK-licensed operators only.

UK.- The UK’s regulated gambling sector has been pushing for more action against unlicensed gambling as it contends with the recent rise in Remote Gaming Duty. It also hopes to stave off those calls for more restrictions on gambling ads and sports sponsorship that won’t go away despite the various regulatory reforms imposed since the 2023 Gambling White Paper.

Some major operators hope that an end to sponsorship deals with unlicensed operators would help achieve that. The British government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport has already signalled that it intends to propose such a ban. It announced in February that a consultation would be held in spring, but that’s yet to happen, making a ban in time for the next season look increasingly unlikely.

In the meantime, Entain has been making the case through other avenues. CEO Stella David has urged Premier League chief Richard Masters to act on the matter, and the Coral and Ladbrokes owner has also written to the new established Independent Football Regulator (IFR) to suggest that it should take up the issue.

Now Entain’s general counsel, Simon Zinger, has written open letters directly to six Premier League clubs: Burnley, Bournemouth, Fulham, Everton, Sunderland, and Wolverhampton Wanderers. They are sponsored by 96.com, BJ88, SBOTOP, Stake, W88 and DEBET respectively.

These brands were previously licensed through the Isle of Man-based white label provider TGP Europe, which pulled out of the British market a year ago. Stake’s Gambling Commission licence was cancelled earlier in February 2025.

The letters ask the clubs to “commit to only using UK-licensed gambling sponsors” in the coming season.

In his letter to Everton CEO Angus Kinnear, Zinger warns that “Stake’s heavy reliance on cryptocurrency and its history of operating in grey jurisdictions make it a lightning rod for concerns regarding money laundering and lack of player protection. Stake’s rapid rise has been fuelled by an unregulated streamer culture that specifically targets the younger demographics your Everton in the Community programmes seek to protect.”

Meanwhile, in the letter to Bournemouth chairman Bill Foley, Zinger criticises BJ88’s “aggressive marketing tactics in regions where gambling is prohibited, often using unregulated payment methods like cryptocurrency to evade financial oversight.”

“By accepting sponsorship from a firm that operates in the shadows of international law, Bournemouth is actively legitimising the infrastructure used by the global black market,” Zinger adds.

The Premier League voluntarily agreed to remove gambling sponsorship from the front of shirts starting from the coming season. However, under the voluntary commitment, gambling sponsorship will still be permissible in other locations, such as shirt sleeves.