Sunderland’s sponsorship deal with the crypto-focused online casino Shuffle has once again put football’s relationship with the gambling industry under the spotlight
Earlier this month, half of the Premier League’s 20 teams were contacted by Entain due to their ongoing partnerships with gambling brands not licensed by the Gambling Commission.
Shuffle, which is licensed in Curaçao, now adds to the list of such brands that will be visible during Premier League games after being announced as Sunderland’s sleeve partner.
The issue is even more pertinent as the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) recently ended a consultation on banning unlicensed partnerships for UK sports teams.
If implemented, the legislation would go beyond the Premier League’s voluntary front-of-shirt ban that came into effect at the beginning of the current season.
Entain argued that the issue is increasingly relevant given that UK PM Andy Burnham is a noted fan of Everton, a club that currently carries Stake as its sleeve sponsor.
Under current rules, clubs are required by the Gambling Commission to ensure UK consumers cannot access unlicensed platforms .
However, Entain highlighted in its statement that 8XBet, a partner of Ipswich, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Coventry City, could be accessed from the UK, and an Entain executive told iGaming Expert that he was able to sign up to 8XBet using a VPN located in Vietnam, using the alias Andy Burnham.
Uni of Bath researchers want more
Though DCMS has zeroed in on the presence of unlicensed sponsorships in British sport, researchers at the University of Bath have called on the government to go one step further and end gambling advertising in UK sport completely, arguing that there is a ‘dose-response relationship’ between exposure to gambling advertising and gambling behaviour.
The Local Health and Global Profits (LHGP) research consortium has argued that the DCMS’ current plans are a ‘reshuffling’ of where exposure comes from, as firms will shift their focus to online and digital advertising if a ban comes into place.
“A reduction in gambling-related harm will only be achieved through a reduction in the total volume of advertising exposure, not a reshuffling of where that exposure comes from,” said the consortium.
“Digitalisation has transformed gambling marketing, allowing companies to use data-driven targeting, algorithms and “nudge” tactics that are barely touched by current policy and that give operators disproportionate power to drive habitual gambling.”
The group cited research that found over 27,000 gambling messages were identified during the opening weekend of the English Premier League, with more than 5,000 in a single match.
However, this research, conducted by the University of Bristol, was published using data from the start of the 2025/26 season, before the front-of-shirt ban came into effect.
LHGP have called on DCMS to commit to the implementation of new measures ahead of the 2027/28 football season, and urged the government to not be swayed by pressure from the industry.
Dr Nason Maani, Deputy Director of LHGP, said: “The gambling industry, like other health-harming industries before it, has a well-documented history of using delay and lobbying tactics to weaken or block regulation that threatens its commercial interests. Government must ensure the timeline for introducing this ban is not diluted or delayed by industry pressure.”