Entain Urges New Football Regulator to Ban Unlicensed Gambling Sponsorship

In August, which brings with it the start of the 2026/27 football season, something will be different in the Premier League.

The competition’s voluntary ban on having betting brands as front-of-shirt sponsors will kick in, with the logos of operators disappearing from playing kits at the end of the current campaign.

However, the ban doesn’t apply to the sponsorship of shirt sleeves, shorts, advertising hoardings and training kit – which will ensure that illegal firms still have a way to infiltrate English football’s top tier.

So Entain, the proprietor of brands including Coral and Ladbrokes, has called upon the new football regulator to immediately end all commercial agreements between Premier League clubs and black market operators.

Open Letter

The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) was created to ‘protect and promote’ the needs of the beautiful game, with Royal Assent given in July 2025.

The IFR now has the power to institute rule changes in how football is governed in England, which would include the ability to ban unlicensed gambling brands from sponsoring Premier League clubs if that enhanced the sustainability of the sport.

A catalogue of top-flight teams, including Everton, Fulham and Bournemouth, have been sponsored by an offshore betting brand during the 2025/26 season; these firms are unlicensed in the UK market, but use these commercial partnerships to advertise to new customers in countries where the Premier League is popular – particularly Asia.

Meanwhile, research has confirmed that 18 of the Premier League’s 20 clubs have promoted an illegal betting site on their advertising boards since August 2025.

It’s a situation that poses a series of ethical questions, with Entain keen to get some clarity on how the new football regulator will tackle the problem.

“The IFR’s draft already prohibits English football clubs from accepting income ‘connected to serious criminal conduct’, reads an open letter posted by the group.

“Entain is asking the regulator to confirm, in a single line of guidance, that the rule covers the unlicensed gambling operators currently sponsoring six Premier League clubs – operators that commit a criminal offence under section 33 of the Gambling Act 2005 every time they accept a bet from a British consumer.”

Their CEO, Stella David, has called upon the IFR to ban all unlicensed sponsorship and advertisements in the EPL in time for the 2026/26 campaign.

New Partners

The Premier League’s impacted clubs now face a summer battle to secure a new front-of-shirt sponsor.

Some have already taken the plunge, with Bournemouth signing a deal with insurance provider Vitality – replacing the unlicensed bookmaker bj88 on their playing kits for 2026/27.

Everton, meanwhile, have penned an agreement with CMC Markets… replacing the controversial Stake.com, who fled the UK gambling sector in February 2025 after having their licence suspended pending an investigation.

Conservative estimates suggest that the impacted clubs could lose as much as £80 million a year from having to source a non-gambling sponsor.

However, it’s not doom and gloom…

As mentioned, betting firms can still sponsor other elements of a football club; hence why Manchester United have opened talks on a deal with Betway.

Although the exact details aren’t known, it has been suggested that the agreement will be to sponsor the Red Devils’ training kit, with a figure described as being ‘eight figures’ exchanging hands.

Reporters at the Manchester Evening News claim that the deal is at an advanced stage, with Betway set to replace controversial blockchain company Tezos on the training wear.

Betway previously sponsored United’s Premier League rivals West Ham for more than a decade, parting ways as part of the fall-out from the Lucas Paqueta legal case.