Chelsea Stake deal raises fan ire
Shirt sponsorship controversy, Finland ends monopoly, BetCity affiliate move, Crown problems, Cypriot corruption +More
Good morning. On today’s agenda:
EPL side’s rumored multi-million shirt deal runs into fan opposition.
It’s the end of the line for the gambling monopoly in Finland.
BetCity is shuttering Dutch affiliates.
The Danish lottery is chided for a lack of adequate RG checks.
Crown is fined A$20m for tax trick.
Corruption claims hang over Cyprus regulator.
Cheer us on through the sun and rain.
Blue in the face
Supporter’s Trust rails at Chelsea’s “short-sightedness”.
Only fans: The mooted one-year $51m deal with the crypto gambling juggernaut Stake would start and end before the wider embargo enters force at the end of the 2025/26 season. But the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust (CST) has written an open letter to the club’s US owner Todd Boehly criticizing the proposed deal, noting 77% of its members are against the move.
SportBusiness broke the news that the London team had met with Aussie-based Stake.com, which is known for its clever use of celebrity endorsements, as other potential suitors fell away.
Chelsea’s current deal with mobile phone operator Three is running out, and the club had lined up a lucrative deal with streaming service Paramount+.
However, the Premier League blocked it, citing concerns over TV rights.
In 2021, NBCUniversal signed a six-year extension of its deal to carry English Premier League games.
Letting the side down: In a statement, the CST said a “short-sighted” agreement with Stake.com would make a “total mockery” of the club’s good work done to tackle gambling harm with awareness workshops in schools.
It has demanded answers from the club’s board, noting it was public knowledge for some time the Three deal was nearly up and Chelsea should have acted sooner.
“An online casino and betting company as the primary shirt sponsor is not in line with the commitment of growing Chelsea FC as a ‘world-class’ organization,” the CST said.
Second best: It added that any deal would send a “damning message” about the club’s ambitions and would mean the board had “accepted mediocrity”.
Chelsea’s rancid showing in the league means it will not play in Europe next season, reducing its potential for income and adding financial pressures to the turbulence following Boehly’s takeover from the exiled oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Supporters took to social media to condemn the Premier League for rejecting a media company but waving through a gambling business.
An “extensive consultation” between the league, clubs and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as part of incoming gambling reforms led to the front-of-shirt ban from the end of the 2025/26 season.
That’s why we call it the blues: Stake.com has form when it comes to courting shirt-sponsorship controversy with its name currently being sported by Everton. That deal was also subject to a petition calling for it to be canceled.
Fan power also previously worked at Norwich when it announced a sponsorship deal with BK8 ahead of the 2021-22 season. The deal was nixed after fans uncovered sexualized marketing for the Asian-facing brand.
Kick it out: The latest Esprouts reports on the link between Stake.com and esports and gambling streamer Kick.
Moral high ground
Cold turkey: The UK’s Guardian Media Group has said it will no longer accept gambling advertising with immediate effect. Anna Bateson, CEO, said there was “clear correlation between exposure to gambling advertising and increased intentions to engage in regular gambling.”
“Ultimately, we believe that our primary obligation is to do the right thing for our readers, which is why we’ve decided that there are other ways to generate revenue,” she added.
The ban will cover all forms of gambling except lottery.
Bateson added that the group has “no issue” with gambling per se as that was a “matter of personal freedom”
“Our concern lies with the pervasive nature of retargeted digital advertisements that trap a portion of sports fans in an addictive cycle,” she added.
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Finn-ito
The new government signals the end of the road for the gambling monopoly.
Happy endings: The gambling monopoly in Finland will come to an end no later than 2026 after the new government signaled it was in favor of a new open licensing regime enabling both OSB and iCasino.
The government said the sector would be “enhanced” by the deal, adding that the current regime had “not been successful” in curbing problem gambling.
It said that marketing of gambling offerings would be a necessary part of the new regime but that it would need to be “moderate and responsible in its content, scope, visibility and frequency”.
On tax, details of the government’s thinking are scant but the team at Regulus suggested the likelihood was that, looking at its Scandinavian neighbors as a guide, it would likely err more towards Denmark’s 28% vs. the 18% rate in Sweden.
Haus keeping: The move to finally end the monopoly held by the operator Veikkaus comes after a government study in April recommended an open model as opposed to following Norway down the path of stricter monopoly enforcement.
Analysts at Regulus said that with ~30% market share currently, Veikhaus would “not be going away”.
It has “built its capability” in betting and gaming, via a deal with Playtech, and is “likely to grow in capability much as the other Nordic ex-monopolies have in their licensed markets”.
They added that regulation will likely be “very painful” for gray market operators.
Colorado nixes exchange hopes
Regulators fail to approve a plan that would have seen Colorado become only the second state to approve exchange betting.
Not fair: The Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission voted 3-1 to take no action on proposals that would have allowed exchange betting within the state, with the commissioners taking the view that the rules might have created a tax loophole.
Richard Nathan, the commission’s chairman, was quoted in The Denver Post as suggesting that he was worried the possible loophole would go against the state legislature’s intent that gambling operators pay a 10% tax on their profits.
The paper also reported that the commissioners also questioned how much oversight the new online gambling platforms would need and whether the state’s regulators have enough capacity to provide it.
The commissioners agreed to delay a decision and give the Colorado Division of Gaming time to revise its proposal.
BetCity limits
BetCity winds down its Netherlands-facing affiliate partnerships ahead of the impending July 1 ad ban.
The sprawling new blackout on online gambling services, along with the operator’s liability for third-party advertising violations, mean it's curtains for BetCity’s existing partnerships.
BetCity notified its current affiliate partners via email, adding it will be voiding all payments arising after July 1 that are related to prior referrals and existing revenue-share models.
“Payment obligations under the affiliate agreement that would arise after July 1, 2023 will become void. Of course, outstanding payments from before that date will still be paid,” the email said.
The gambling regulator has warned the industry it will provide minimal guidance to firms struggling with compliance, as it monitors adherence to the ban.
Not so great Danes
The Danish national lottery operator has been warned by the country’s gambling regulator for not conducting adequate checks on high-risk customers.
Lotto problems: Spillemyndigheden rebuked Danske Licens Spil for a failure to notify the anti-money laundering regulator of suspect fund transfers and for not carrying out enhanced due diligence on the same individual responsible for the flagged payments.
Danske Licens Spil will not face any regulatory sanction beyond a ticking off, but lawyers said the case should serve as a reminder for licensed operators that the regulator is watching.
Meanwhile, the regulator has also found Royal Scandinavian Casino Åarhus guilty of violating rules and regulations on money laundering. The casino has three months to comply.
European notebook
Tipster: The German regulator Gemeinsamen Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL) has withdrawn Tipster’s license with immediate effect, citing concerns over player safety. Tipster previously saw its offices raided by police over alleged criminal activity.
“We take consistent action against license holders if they violate elementary rules of the State Treaty on Gaming,” said GGL board member Ronald Benter.
Sweden: A new report from Sweden's Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) showed that channelization in Sweden is falling far short of the government’s target of 90%.
A survey of 9,850 participants undertaken by market research company SKOP found that channelization for all forms of online gambling stood at 77%, but with online casino it fell as low as 72%.
Sports betting was closer to the target at 84%.
“Far too much effort has been spent on the part of the state to force the licensed gambling companies to implement measures that have not been well received by gambling consumers,” claimed Gustaf Hoffstedt, BOS secretary-general.
Crown slips
It doesn’t rain, it pours for Crown Resorts. The casino operator’s latest fine of A$20m ($13m) is for historically claiming improper tax deductions for promos, which it disguised as winnings.
Wrong side of history: The issue was unearthed in the 2021 Royal Commission into Crown Melbourne, in which the businesses’ (historic) extensive anti-money laundering and counter-corruption failings were brutally exposed.
“Crown and other gaming licensees have important obligations to pay gaming taxes to the state,” said Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission chair Fran Thorn. “Not only did Crown breach its obligations by claiming tax deductions to which it was not entitled, Crown also made significant efforts at concealment.”
The fine would have been higher if not for the group’s “remorse and cooperation”, the regulator said.
Last month, Crown and the financial crimes watchdog filed joint submissions with the Federal Court to propose the group pay one of the largest financial penalties (A$293.5m) in Australian corporate history.
It has since accepted it was wrong to claim tax deductions, and has paid approximately $42m to the state of Victoria, totaling unpaid casino tax of about $25.61m and penalty interest of approximately $16.5m.
The latest fine is on top of these payments.
Star turn: Meanwhile, Star Entertainment is in negotiations with the New South Wales state government about a proposed increase in the taxes from EGMs from a flat rate of 32% to more than 60%, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Cyprus corruption
Cyprus has opened a criminal probe into the chair of the National Betting Authority for failing to answer lawmakers’ questions on match-fixing in soccer.
Not talking: Ioanna Fiakkou has refused to help the Cyprus Sports Ethics Committee in its investigation of corruption in soccer, citing personal data protection reasons for not handing over data on suspicious gambling.
A report into Fiakkou, followed up by law enforcement, was filed by Haris Savvides, a Cypriot lawyer and former member of the Sports Ethics Committee.
Savvides has been investigating allegations of corrupt acts by senior individuals linked to top clubs for several years, and began asking Fiakkou for relevant information in 2021.
Nothing has been forthcoming, and Savvides has testified in the Cypriot parliament over the matter.
“Whoever among you believes that we live in an angelic place after you hear what I have to say, you will think there is less corruption in Colombia than Cyprus,” Savvides told MPs.
From 2011 to date, police have received 96 reports from UEFA regarding possible fixed games with heavy activity coming from Asia, but 90 cases went nowhere, and witnesses have been cowed into silence, Savvides claimed.
Sports integrity notebook
The International Tennis Integrity Agency has banned Romania’s Petru-Alexandru Luncanu for five years over match-fixing.
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