Discussions took another step into the removal of unlicensed betting ads in football, with one of these teams with an unlicensed betting sponsor is Burnley with 96.com.
Unlicensed gambling ads are those that are not accessible for use in the UK. Yet they are still viewable during football matches.
This was a major topic discussed at the Fair Game Conference with Clive Tyldesley, Judith Williams, Nick Harvey and James Grimes.
James Grimes mentioned that there is currently a consultation by the government so there is a chance that those operators will be removed from advertising in football. This could prove to be a massive step in helping gambling become healthier in the footballing world.
On the allowance of this unlicensed shirt sponsor, James Grimes, the Director of Chapter One, said: “I don’t know how it’s allowed. It’s a scandal really.”
All on the panel at the Fair Game Conference discussed their experiences with gambling in sport. Judith Williams is one of many in the North-West who have been affected by gambling. In her story, the victim was her brother. She told her story at the Conference at the Football Museum in Manchester.
Judith Williams works with campaign group Gambling with Lives and her story is one of thousands across the North-West of England and a study from GSCB found that 2.7% of GB adults score 8 or above on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), classifying them as suffering “problem gambling”. This works out to be 1.4 million people, whilst a further 1.6 million are at risk.
Research from OLGB show that the North West has the highest percentage of people that planned on placing a bet on a sporting event in 2025 (26%).
In the Greater Manchester area, figures show that there are 18,100 adults experiencing gambling harms living in Greater Manchester, 1.5x higher than the national average. Greater Manchester Police respond to atleast one incident per week where serious concern has been raised of a risk of suicide associated with gambling.
Looking at when these addictions start, Nick Harvey, former Head of External Affairs at Gambling with Lives and current Director of Communications and Memberships at Coalition to End Gambling Ads said:
““9 times out of 10 it will start on the legal market.
“The black market will come afterwards.”
Most of the stats are recorded from the regulated market, which Nick says could be misleading: “The amount of people being harmed is probably higher than we think”.
However, from the 2026/27 season this will change a Premier League clubs will no longer be able to have a front-of-shirt betting sponsor. This will be the first time since Fulham introduced betting sponsors in 2002.
Burnley are one of ten top-flight teams to currently have betting sponsors currently and they look set to lose their ‘record commercial fee’. Premier League clubs overall, reported exclusively by The Guardian, were facing an £80m shirt sponsor void due to the ban.
Nick Harvey also highlighted how betting companies’ “business model is based on addiction”. This is after the stat that says on the regulated market, roughly 86% of online betting profits come from only 5% of all customers.
Nick said: “That alone says how harmful their intentions are.”