The United Kingdom has announced it will get tougher on gambling companies that don’t have a special license to operate in the country. These companies will no longer be allowed to sponsor sports teams. This new rule could cause problems for several esports teams that have deals with gambling websites based outside the UK.

The government shared that it plans to put this ban into action as part of a bigger effort to stop illegal gambling. A statement from the government explained that officials are very worried about the dangers of gambling companies that aren’t licensed, as these have been connected to organized crime.

The statement also pointed out that these unlicensed companies don’t follow the rules and guidelines meant to keep customers safe. This includes important checks on how much money people can afford to gamble, rules about fair advertising, and clear terms and conditions.

The UK has been the home of many elite esports tournaments.

Sports Teams and Deals with Unlicensed Companies

Up until now, sports teams could make sponsorship deals with companies even if those companies didn’t have a UK license. This included big soccer teams like those in the Premier League, as well as esports teams.

The government mentioned that clubs weren’t breaking any laws by having these sponsorship deals, as long as people in the UK couldn’t actually use the gambling services.

For example, Stake has continued to sponsor the Premier League soccer team Everton FC. Their name is still on the team’s shirts, even though Stake lost its UK license last year. Stake also sponsors an esports group called Team Vitality, which has played in events held in the UK.

With these new rules, Team Vitality might have to stop showing Stake’s name at events in the UK. Also, BLAST recently announced a deal with Polymarket, which is a company that isn’t allowed in the UK. It’s not clear yet if the new rules will stop BLAST from promoting Polymarket.

For now, the government has only said it will start talking about new rules for sports sponsorships this spring. No clear rules have been put in place just yet.

Group Working to Stop Illegal Gambling

This announcement is part of the UK’s efforts to crack down on gambling companies that don’t have licenses. Besides looking into sports sponsorships, the government has also created a special group to fight illegal gambling.

One of this group’s goals is to stop companies from advertising on social media. The Minister for Gambling, Baroness Twycross, is in charge of this group. She said they are working with companies like TikTok and Google to take down these advertisements.

They are also working with MasterCard and Visa to stop people from making payments to gambling websites that aren’t regulated.

Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, said these new rules are mainly meant to stop big soccer clubs from working with unregulated gambling companies. However, she noted that these changes could also affect many other sports groups, including those that organize esports events and the teams themselves.