Entain has urged the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) to prevent clubs from taking gambling sponsorships from operators not authorized in the UK.
Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain released a statement on Thursday in reaction to the IFR’s Second Licensing Consultation.
The consultation concluded on Tuesday after gathering feedback on a new club licensing framework for the top five tiers of English football.
Entain has asked the IFR to confirm that its prohibition on clubs accepting revenue “associated with grave criminal behavior” encompasses unlicensed gambling sponsorship.
Operators lacking a local UK license can currently back UK teams through white label arrangements with locally authorized companies, but there are also up to six operators without any UK license or footprint sponsoring clubs in the Premier League.
Entain’s Ladbrokes is the official wagering partner of Premier League titans Liverpool, while its Coral brand is the UK partner of second-division side Birmingham City.
In her letter, Entain CEO Stella David urged the IFR to take action before the 2026-27 campaign starts in August.
“Premier League clubs are being backed by criminal gambling enterprises,” David said. “The Independent Football Regulator can stop this immediately by simply acknowledging that unlicensed betting companies targeting UK customers through English football are violating the law – clear and straightforward.
“The regulator does not require any fresh authority, new regulations, or even a new rule to achieve this. Actually, it has already prepared one. We ask the regulator to define and enforce it before the next season begins.”
Entain’s four suggestions
Beyond affirming that unlicensed betting constitutes “serious criminal conduct,” Entain made three additional recommendations for the IFR.
The operator additionally called for a board certification to be inserted into the annual declaration to confirm whether clubs hold substantial commercial agreements with licensed operators in the UK.
The mandatory yearly declaration was included in the Football Governance Act 2025, a statute that led to the creation of the IFR last year. It is intended to ensure continuous compliance by clubs.
Furthermore, Entain is pushing for the Football Club Corporate Governance Code, also part of the new legislation, to treat reputational risks from commercial partnerships as a standing governance duty.
Finally, it urged for general guidance clarifying the due diligence and responsibilities relevant to betting partners, to be released to all authorized clubs.
Upcoming DCMS consultation on unlicensed sponsorships
Analysis from Frontier Economics, commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), estimates 1.5 million Britons wager roughly £4.3 billion each year with illicit operators.
Further BGC-commissioned research by WARC projected that unlicensed betting sponsorship could account for more than half of all UK sports sponsorship spending by October 2027.
In reply, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport started a consultation on prohibiting unlicensed betting sponsorship in Great Britain in February.
However, Entain argues the IFR should not delay until the DCMS process concludes before acting.
Entain has also reached out to Premier League CEO Richard Masters, demanding an immediate voluntary ban on unlicensed betting sponsorship and advertising ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.