Last year the UK government released its much delayed White Paper on reform of gambling regulation. Commentators expected that it would contain more far-reaching measures to restrict gambling advertising and sponsorship in football (and more widely).  Instead, Premier League clubs collectively agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of their matchday shirts by the end of the 2025-26 season.

Following this, various sporting bodies have signed up to Codes of Conduct for Gambling Related Agreements. The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) says that this will significantly raise standards for sports sponsorship deals.  The Codes are in addition to gambling law and the advertising codes.

The BGC has been working alongside various sports bodies including the Premier League, the English Football League, the FA, the Women’s Super League, the Rugby Football League, and the British Horseracing Authority, plus official bodies representing darts, snooker and boxing, and has developed a cross-industry voluntary Code of Conduct for betting sponsorship deals, with each body producing a specific Code for their own sport.

The Codes set out four key principles of protection, social responsibility, reinvestment and integrity:

• Protection of children and young people – gambling sponsorship must be specifically designed to limit its reach and promotion to under 18s and those at risk of gambling related harm.
• Social responsibility – gambling sponsorship must be promoted and delivered in a socially responsible way. This includes making sure that education and awareness messages are provided as part of all marketing activities.
• Reinvestment into sport – the commercial income raised from gambling sponsorship must be reinvested back into infrastructure and programmes that serve fans and communities. This includes investment in improving infrastructure and providing community and grassroots participation opportunities for local communities.
• Maintaining sporting integrity – gambling sponsorship must neither compromise the integrity of sporting competitions nor harm the welfare of those participants who take part in them.

The EFL, the Premier League, the FA and the Women’s Super League announced that they would adopt the new Code of Conduct for Gambling Related Agreements in football before the new season, as did the British Horseracing Authority. 

The BGC says that the Code has significant practical implications for sports sponsorship. Football betting sponsorship must limit reach to children and those at risk of harm and make sure that professional footballers are aware of available support services, as well as making sure that club social media accounts do not include links to betting operator websites. Clubs must also make sure that a reasonable and proportionate portion of gambling sponsorship assets promote safer gambling messaging which may include perimeter boards and match day programmes.

For horseracing, the new Code aims to make sure that that betting promotions are not directly targeted at under 18s and that appropriate age awareness arrangements are applied on course.

In its manifesto, the Labour party said that it intended to review the laws on gambling advertising.  However, the recent King's Speech didn't include any proposed legislation, so nothing is planned during this parliamentary session.