Casinos sponsoring two Premier League clubs are accepting UK customers without a licence, putting club officers at risk of prosecution, Sky News has learned. The gambling websites, BC.Game and DEBET are the matchday shirt sponsors of Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, respectively. But an investigation by anti-gambling advert campaigners, shared with Sky News, suggests the casinos have continued to accept UK customers, despite this becoming unlawful after they lost their licences to operate in the UK.

DEBET lost its licence on 15 May, while BC.Game lost its licence in December 2024. Neither club has indicated that they intend to end the sponsorships, despite criticism from campaigners and warnings from the Gambling Commission. With the end of the 2024/25 season this weekend, both clubs are now halfway through two-year sponsorship deals with the casinos, putting them in a difficult position for next season. The campaign group Coalition to End Gambling Ads (CEGA) told Sky News it was able to make deposits on both gambling websites, despite the sites having no licence to accept UK customers.

CEGA also successfully deposited cash on Burnley FC sponsor 96.com. Burnley are due to be promoted to the Premier League next season. The findings come one week after the Gambling Commission warned five football clubs, including Wolverhampton and Burnley, that their officers “may be liable to prosecution and, if convicted, face a fine, imprisonment or both if they promote unlicensed gambling businesses that transact with consumers in Great Britain”. The Commission had issued a similar warning to Leicester City in February.

It made clear then that the clubs must either cut ties with the casinos or ensure they are not accessible to UK customers “by any means” – including virtual private networks (VPNs) – software used to hide a user’s real location. Other than the need to use a VPN, CEGA director Will Prochaska says it “really wasn’t very difficult” to access the sites. The Gambling Commission declined to be interviewed by Sky News, but said that “where we have evidence that meets the standard for criminal prosecution, we will take appropriate action”.

Head of enforcement at the Commission, John Pierce, previously said the body would “conduct ongoing spot checks as necessary to ensure they are not accessible to consumers in Great Britain by any means”. Mr Prochaska, however, said the Commission was taking “far too long” to take action. “Far too many children, far too many football fans, are seeing these adverts every day,” he said. “It’s got to stop.” Leicester City’s sponsor has had no UK licence for almost six months.

The three sites that appear on the matchday shirts of Leicester, Wolves and Burnley were previously licensed by TGP Europe, a company based on the Isle of Man. On 15 May, TGP Europe surrendered its UK gambling licence to avoid a £3.3m fine, leaving DEBET and 96.com unable to legally accept UK customers. Leicester City sponsor BC.Game has been unlicensed in the UK since it parted ways with TGP Europe in December 2024 – almost six months ago. (Photo: Vardy).

Mr Prochaska said he contacted Leicester City on 13 March to alert them that BC.Game was still accepting UK customers. “In fact, it was one of the easiest for me to gamble on – there were very few checks whatsoever,” he says. “But Leicester don’t seem to have done anything about it, and it’s still on the front of their shirts.” Leicester City FC did not respond to a request for comment. Bournemouth, Fulham and Newcastle United are also sponsored by casinos that were formerly licensed by TGP Europe, but have been unlicensed since 15 May.

These casinos (bj88, SBOTOP and FUN88) are no longer able to legally accept UK customers. However, Sky News was able to use a VPN to sign up to all three casinos, as well as those sponsoring Leicester City, Wolverhampton, and Burnley. On all six websites, Sky was able to access QR codes for making cryptocurrency deposits. Sky News did not attempt to make any deposits. All six casinos are forbidden by law from accepting UK customers. Yet Burnley sponsor 96.com allowed Sky News to sign up using a Telegram account registered to a UK phone number.

The other websites all required phone numbers to be entered upon registration, which could be used as an additional layer of security to filter out UK customers. However, most of the websites did not check whether the phone number provided was genuine. Only one website, Leicester City sponsor BC.Game, did check. However, after confirming the phone number’s authenticity, BC.Game allowed registration to proceed – even though Sky News had provided a UK phone number.

Sky News presented these findings to the football clubs concerned, to TGP Europe and to the Gambling Commission, but did not receive any comment. Anyone concerned about their gambling, or that of a loved one, can visit BeGambleAware.org for free, confidential advice and support, or The National Gambling Helpline is available on 0808 8020 133 and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Courtesy: By Ben van der Merwe, digital investigations journalist