Latest news with #JohnPierce
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Four Premier League clubs warned over gambling sponsors
Four Premier League clubs have been warned by the Gambling Commission over their relationship with an unlicensed gambling business. Bournemouth, Fulham, Newcastle, and Wolves, as well newly promoted Burnley, are all sponsored by betting websites run by TGP Europe. The company surrendered its UK licence after an investigation found it had failed to "carry out sufficient checks on business partners" and breached "anti-money laundering rules". A letter sent to the clubs has warned they "may be liable to prosecution…if they promote unlicensed gambling businesses that transact with consumers in Great Britain". TGP Europe brands bj88 (Bournemouth), SBOTOP (Fulham), DEBET (Wolves), and (Burnley) all currently appear as match day shirt sponsors. FUN88 was Newcastle's shirt sponsor from 2017 to 2023, before becoming the club's "official Asian betting partner". BBC Sport has approached the five clubs and TGP Europe for comment. In February, the Gambling Commission contacted Everton, Nottingham Forest, and Leicester about three other TGP Europe websites that had already lost their licence. Stake (Everton), kaiyun (Nottingham Forest), and (Leicester) have all remained on the respective shirts since. TGP Europe surrendered its licence after being told it needed to pay a £3.3 million penalty and "make significant improvements" to continue trading. The Gambling Commission says it is seeking assurances "that consumers in Great Britain cannot transact with the unlicensed sites". "Clubs will be asked to demonstrate that they have assurance that any steps to geo-block the sites are effective, recognising that some blocking can be easily bypassed by use of tools such as a Virtual Private Network", they added. From beer to betting - how have football shirt sponsors changed? Premier League to limit gambling sponsors on shirts More than half of this season's Premier League teams have a gambling company as their shirt sponsor. Premier League clubs have agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of their matchday shirts by the end of the 2025-26 season. The Coalition to End Gambling Ads raised concerns about TGP Europe's practices with the Gambling Commission. Director Will Prochaska said: "Action against TGP Europe is welcome, but warnings against advertising unlicensed gambling companies ring hollow." "Premier League clubs – including Everton and Leicester – have been advertising unlicensed sites for months." The Gambling Commission's head of enforcement John Pierce said: "We have already been in contact with several football clubs to highlight the impact of the withdrawal from the market by TGP and make clear that we will be carrying out checks - without further notice - to ensure these sites remain blocked. "We will also conduct ongoing spot checks as necessary to ensure they are not accessible to consumers in Great Britain by any means. Should any of these sites be available to GB consumers, we will take appropriate action. "It is essential that football clubs play their part in protecting fans and GB consumers who may be exposed to advertising of these sites through their sponsorship arrangements from harm or exploitation. All licensed operators with similar arrangements to TGP should take notice of the action taken in this case." Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast Get football news sent straight to your phone
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Four Premier League clubs warned over gambling sponsors
Four Premier League clubs have been warned by the Gambling Commission over their relationship with an unlicensed gambling business. Bournemouth, Fulham, Newcastle, and Wolves, as well newly promoted Burnley, are all sponsored by betting websites run by TGP Europe. The company surrendered its UK licence after an investigation found it had failed to "carry out sufficient checks on business partners" and breached "anti-money laundering rules". A letter sent to the clubs has warned they "may be liable to prosecution…if they promote unlicensed gambling businesses that transact with consumers in Great Britain". TGP Europe brands bj88 (Bournemouth), SBOTOP (Fulham), DEBET (Wolves), and (Burnley) all currently appear as match day shirt sponsors. FUN88 was Newcastle's shirt sponsor from 2017 to 2023, before becoming the club's "official Asian betting partner". BBC Sport has approached the five clubs and TGP Europe for comment. In February, the Gambling Commission contacted Everton, Nottingham Forest, and Leicester about three other TGP Europe websites that had already lost their licence. Stake (Everton), kaiyun (Nottingham Forest), and (Leicester) have all remained on the respective shirts since. TGP Europe surrendered its licence after being told it needed to pay a £3.3 million penalty and "make significant improvements" to continue trading. The Gambling Commission says it is seeking assurances "that consumers in Great Britain cannot transact with the unlicensed sites". "Clubs will be asked to demonstrate that they have assurance that any steps to geo-block the sites are effective, recognising that some blocking can be easily bypassed by use of tools such as a Virtual Private Network", they added. From beer to betting - how have football shirt sponsors changed? Premier League to limit gambling sponsors on shirts More than half of this season's Premier League teams have a gambling company as their shirt sponsor. Premier League clubs have agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of their matchday shirts by the end of the 2025-26 season. The Coalition to End Gambling Ads raised concerns about TGP Europe's practices with the Gambling Commission. Director Will Prochaska said: "Action against TGP Europe is welcome, but warnings against advertising unlicensed gambling companies ring hollow." "Premier League clubs – including Everton and Leicester – have been advertising unlicensed sites for months." The Gambling Commission's head of enforcement John Pierce said: "We have already been in contact with several football clubs to highlight the impact of the withdrawal from the market by TGP and make clear that we will be carrying out checks - without further notice - to ensure these sites remain blocked. "We will also conduct ongoing spot checks as necessary to ensure they are not accessible to consumers in Great Britain by any means. Should any of these sites be available to GB consumers, we will take appropriate action. "It is essential that football clubs play their part in protecting fans and GB consumers who may be exposed to advertising of these sites through their sponsorship arrangements from harm or exploitation. All licensed operators with similar arrangements to TGP should take notice of the action taken in this case." Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast Get football news sent straight to your phone
Daily Mirror
16-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Five football clubs contacted by Government over unlicensed betting sponsorships
Five English clubs have been warned about the risks of promoting unlicensed betting websites by the Gambling Commission. Bournemouth, Burnley, Fulham, Newcastle and Wolves have been contacted by the Government agency after regulatory action resulted in a white label gambling operator, TGP Europe, leaving the British market. TGP's exit means the clubs now have sponsorship arrangements with unlicensed businesses. The Gambling Commission is seeking assurances from the clubs that they have carried out due diligence on their white label partners and that consumers in Great Britain cannot transact with the unlicensed sites. This will include ensuring they have assurances that steps have been taken to put in place effective geo-blocking of the sites from the UK. The Commission said it would also take steps to independently verify effective measures are in place. Club officials have been warned they could be liable to prosecution, and if convicted, face imprisonment and/or a fine, if they promote unlicensed businesses that transact with British consumers. The Commission's head of enforcement John Pierce said: 'We have already been in contact with several football clubs to highlight the impact of the withdrawal from the market by TGP and make clear that we will be carrying out checks – without further notice – to ensure these sites remain blocked. 'We will also conduct ongoing spot checks as necessary to ensure they are not accessible to consumers in Great Britain by any means. Should any of these sites be available to GB consumers, we will take appropriate action. 'It is essential that football clubs play their part in protecting fans and GB consumers who may be exposed to advertising of these sites through their sponsorship arrangements from harm or exploitation. All licensed operators with similar arrangements to TGP should take notice of the action taken in this case.' The businesses concerned are BJ88 (Bournemouth), SBOTOP (Fulham), and FUN88 (Newcastle), DEBET (Wolves) and (Burnley). The clubs have been contacted for comment. In 2023 Premier League clubs collectively agreed to withdraw all gambling sponsors from the front of matchday shirts from the 2026-27 season. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
North Wales Chronicle
15-05-2025
- Business
- North Wales Chronicle
Online gambling firm Spreadex fined £2m for social responsibility failings
The online firm failed to carry out appropriate checks on a customer who hit a daily deposit limit of £3,340 on 12 occasions over 14 days, the Gambling Commission said. Despite the high spending over a short period, Spreadex's social responsibility interactions consisted of four pop-up messages without any human interaction. Anti-money laundering failures included failing to ask for 'source of funds' information from a customer who deposited around £64,000 into the business within a short period. The customer went on to lose £50,000 within one month. Spreadex Limited – which operates from – will pay a £2,022,000 penalty for the failings, which happened between September 2022 and November 2023, and also have to undergo a third-party audit. It is the second enforcement action against Spreadex after it paid a £1.36 million regulatory settlement in 2022, again for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures. The Gambling Commission's head of enforcement John Pierce said: 'The conclusion of this case marks the second time Spreadex Limited has been subject to enforcement action. 'Its failure to uphold anti-money laundering standards, delays in necessary interventions, and weaknesses in social responsibility measures were unacceptable. Spreadex Limited to pay £2 million for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures. To read more visit our website 💻 — Gambling Commission (@GamRegGB) May 15, 2025 'The operator placed undue reliance on customer assurances about the source of funds, rather than obtaining evidence from independent and verifiable sources, as we would expect. Operators must not only implement and maintain robust anti-money laundering policies, procedures, and controls, but also act swiftly in response to any indicators of suspicious activity. 'During the review, it was found that one customer, showing markers of harm, was using products across areas overseen by two different regulators. As the gambling regulator, we stress the importance of licensees understanding and managing cross-channel usage in their anti-money laundering and social responsibility policies.' He added: 'Operators should be in no doubt: repeated regulatory failings will result in escalating enforcement action.'
South Wales Guardian
15-05-2025
- Business
- South Wales Guardian
Online gambling firm Spreadex fined £2m for social responsibility failings
The online firm failed to carry out appropriate checks on a customer who hit a daily deposit limit of £3,340 on 12 occasions over 14 days, the Gambling Commission said. Despite the high spending over a short period, Spreadex's social responsibility interactions consisted of four pop-up messages without any human interaction. Anti-money laundering failures included failing to ask for 'source of funds' information from a customer who deposited around £64,000 into the business within a short period. The customer went on to lose £50,000 within one month. Spreadex Limited – which operates from – will pay a £2,022,000 penalty for the failings, which happened between September 2022 and November 2023, and also have to undergo a third-party audit. It is the second enforcement action against Spreadex after it paid a £1.36 million regulatory settlement in 2022, again for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures. The Gambling Commission's head of enforcement John Pierce said: 'The conclusion of this case marks the second time Spreadex Limited has been subject to enforcement action. 'Its failure to uphold anti-money laundering standards, delays in necessary interventions, and weaknesses in social responsibility measures were unacceptable. Spreadex Limited to pay £2 million for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures. To read more visit our website 💻 — Gambling Commission (@GamRegGB) May 15, 2025 'The operator placed undue reliance on customer assurances about the source of funds, rather than obtaining evidence from independent and verifiable sources, as we would expect. Operators must not only implement and maintain robust anti-money laundering policies, procedures, and controls, but also act swiftly in response to any indicators of suspicious activity. 'During the review, it was found that one customer, showing markers of harm, was using products across areas overseen by two different regulators. As the gambling regulator, we stress the importance of licensees understanding and managing cross-channel usage in their anti-money laundering and social responsibility policies.' He added: 'Operators should be in no doubt: repeated regulatory failings will result in escalating enforcement action.'
