The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has collaborated with major UK sports organizations to create a new code of conduct for gambling-related sponsorships. The release of these guidelines comes at a time when the topic of gambling sponsorships in sports is gaining significant attention. The aim of the new set of guidelines is to establish general standards in this area.
The UK Betting and Gaming Council worked closely with prominent sports leagues in the region, including the English Premier League (EPL), the Football Association (FA), the Rugby Football League, the Women’s Super League, and the British Horseracing Authority, to develop the “Codes of Conduct for Gambling Related Agreements.” This voluntary set of guidelines has specific subsections for each sport it addresses, with the hope of raising standards when teams and organizations enter agreements with gambling operators.
The new code of conduct focuses on four key pillars: protecting underage individuals, promoting responsible gambling practices, reinvesting sponsorship funds into programs that benefit fans and local communities, and maintaining the integrity of sports. The soccer leagues involved in developing these guidelines have agreed to implement the new rules in time for the upcoming seasons, with changes including stricter requirements for promoting safe gambling messages, educating players about addiction support services, and prohibiting links to gambling operator websites from team social media accounts.
BGC Chairperson Michael Dugher expressed optimism about the impact of these new standards, stating that they are beneficial for sports, operators, and fans alike. He sees the code of conduct as a significant step forward, the result of years of work by the industry body. Gambling sponsorship is a lucrative aspect of many UK sports, with the horse racing sector alone receiving approximately £350 million ($448 million) annually from the industry.
This development follows a recent warning from the UK Gambling Commission to EPL clubs Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest regarding sponsorship agreements with gambling operators that lack a UK license and whose white-label contracts may no longer be valid. The implementation of these new guidelines is expected to bring about positive changes in the landscape of gambling-related sponsorships in UK sports.