Six Premier League clubs could face legal action over their shirt sponsors accepting UK customers without a valid license.
The companies in question are BC.Game (Leicester), BJ88 (Bournemouth), SBOTOP (Fulham), Sportsbet.io and Fun88 (Newcastle), Debet (Wolves), and 96.com (Burnley).
All are online casinos that were previously licensed through TGP Europe in the UK. BC.Game, however, split with TGP Europe in December last year, leaving it unlicensed in the country for the last six months.
TGP Europe had facilitated UK licenses for various offshore operators through white label agreements. The white label licenses allowed TGP Europe to effectively rent out licenses to business partners, including the casinos that sponsor Premier League clubs.
The system has come under criticism as the UK Gambling Commission is said to have little oversight into the companies that receive the white label licenses. The Commission investigated TGP Europe back in 2023 and issued a fine of £316,250 for anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility failures, including inadequate due diligence on white-label partners.
The company continued operations and issuing licenses, but another investigation this year found practices had not improved. As a result, the UK Gambling Commission issued a fine of £3.3 million earlier this month and the group exited the UK market. Since then, its partners have been left without valid UK gambling licenses.
Companies are still accepting UK customers
The campaign group Coalition to End Gambling Ads (CEGA) told Sky News it was able to make deposits on both gambling websites, despite the sites having no licence to accept UK customers.
CEGA director Will Prochaska said it “really wasn’t very difficult” to access the sites and all he had to do was use a VPN.
Commenting on betting through BC.Game, Prochaska said, “In fact, it was one of the easiest for me to gamble on – there were very few checks whatsoever.”
“But Leicester don’t seem to have done anything about it, and it’s still on the front of their shirts.”
The club played its final game of the season on Sunday after its relegation to the Championship was confirmed earlier this month. With the drop down to the division below, the club will face a large loss in revenue from TV money, so it will be hoping to maximise sponsorship deals. A two-year deal was signed with BC.Game last summer, leaving one year remaining on the contract valued at £30 million.
After parting ways with TGP Europe, the company now operates globally under an offshore license from Anjouan Gaming.
Crypto deposits going under the radar
Additionally, Sky News reported that it could open accounts at all six operators and was able to access QR codes for making cryptocurrency deposits. Due to the increased anonymity, crypto betting sites can be difficult to detect for regulators, especially when using a VPN, as was the case with Sky News.
The UK Gambling Commission previously warned clubs they “may be liable to prosecution and, if convicted, face a fine, imprisonment or both if they promote unlicensed gambling businesses that transact with consumers in Great Britain”.
Sky News has presented its findings to the football clubs concerned, to TGP Europe and to the Gambling Commission, and awaits a response. The Premier League is due to introduce a ban on gambling shirt sponsors from the start of the 2026-27 season.
The ban comes under growing scrutiny of various deals clubs have made with offshore or unlicensed operators. Everton FC currently display Stake on the front of their shirt, despite the company also being unlicensed in the UK.
Adam is an experienced writer with years of experience in the gambling industry. He has worked as a content writer and editor for five years on sites such as Oddschecker, CoinTelegraph and Gambling Industry News, bringing excellent knowledge of the world of sports betting and online gambling.
