The crackdown
UK government acts to outlaw black-market sports sponsorships
A longstanding black-market “loophole” looks set to be closed.
In +More: Mexico prepares to tighten gambling ad rules.
Caesars CEO tells analysts why predictions are a hard no.
More predictions: Class action in Oregon, AGA doubles down on rhetoric.
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Black gets a red
A red card: The UK government has announced a consultation exercise on plans to ban unlicensed gambling operators from sponsoring British sports teams.
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy said it was “not right that unlicensed gambling operators can sponsor some of our biggest football clubs, raising their profile and potentially drawing fans towards sites that don’t meet our regulatory standards.”
Rules is rules: The Betting & Gaming Council (BGC) welcomed the news, saying in a statement that “if an operator wants the visibility and credibility of English football, they should meet the high regulatory standards set here in the UK.”
BGC members “follow strict rules on consumer protection, safer gambling and financial safeguards,” the posted added.
“Unlicensed operators don’t – fuelling the harmful black market and putting consumers at risk.”
Black and white: Leading Premier League clubs that have sponsorship deals with unlicensed operators include Fulham, who currently sport SBOTOP on their shirts; Bournemouth with bj88; Wolves, who have a deal with an operator called Debet; and Burnley, which features 96.com.
Each brand originally operated under the white-label umbrella of Isle of Man-based TGP Europe.
However, that company surrendered its license to the Gambling Commission in May last year instead of paying a £3m fine after the UK Gambling Commission found it had failed basic KYC procedures on its white-label clients.
Sleeve it alone: The clubs were warned at the time about their dealings with unlicensed operators, but the Commission was powerless otherwise to stop them making such deals.
As it stands, a voluntary ban on shirt sponsorships by any gambling operator, imposed by the English Premier League, will come into force at the end of this season.
But this only applies to front-of-shirt deals and not sleeves or other forms of sponsorship.
Game management: Stephen Ketteley, partner at Wiggin, posted on Linkedin that TGP’s “quick market exit” had “opened the door for unlicensed operators to sponsor British sport, particularly Premier League football.”
“In doing so, provided all reasonable steps were taken to ensure such offerings were not available to British consumers, the law supported such a position, despite what the Commission said in the past,” he noted.
He added that the government was now closing what was “in effect, a legislative loophole.”
“Whether this kills sponsorship by licensed white labels remains to be seen.”
A force to be reckoned with: The government framed the consultation as part of a wider effort to hinder black-market gambling activity in the UK.
Last month, it launched an Illegal Gambling Taskforce, bringing together major companies, including Google, Mastercard, TikTok and Visa, alongside law enforcement and gambling bodies to tackle illegal gambling.
The government said the stated aims of the taskforce are to stop illegal operators advertising on social media platforms, disrupt payments to unlicensed sites and improve cross-agency collaboration.
Gambling minister Baroness Twycross said the government was aware of the “real harm that unregulated gambling can cause, exploiting vulnerable people and leaving consumers without the protections they deserve.”
She added that the sponsorship consultation and the taskforce “shows how seriously this government is taking the issue.”
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+More
Mexican lawmakers, led by Deputy Jericó Abramo Masso, are preparing legislation to tighten gambling advertising rules ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The proposal would restrict operator marketing during live sporting events and confine promotions to time slots less likely to attract younger audiences. The draft bill is awaiting approval in the Chamber of Deputies before advancing to Congress.
Wisconsin’s Assembly has passed legislation that would legalize statewide OSB under a tribal-controlled framework, marking a key step toward expanding wagering beyond existing retail sportsbooks at tribal casinos. The bipartisan bill now faces an uncertain path in the Senate, where concerns remain over exclusivity and constitutional issues. If ultimately approved, the measure would require amendments to tribal gaming compacts and federal sign-off before launch.
Philippines: Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has called for stronger enforcement against illegal online gambling, urging the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center to intensify blocking and monitoring efforts. Officials said more than 50,000 sites have been restricted, but enforcement remains challenging because roughly 97% of illegal operators are offshore, limiting domestic jurisdiction despite surging participation in online gambling nationwide.
Australia: The industry body Responsible Wagering Australia has called on the federal government to introduce a national blacklist targeting illegal offshore gambling sites. Licensed operators argue current website-blocking measures are ineffective, with unregulated platforms estimated to control around 36% of the wagering market.
Alberta is requiring all iGaming operators to be accredited by Canadian-developed responsible gambling programme RG Check in order to access the legal market.
No risk Caesars
A hard no: Caesars Entertainment took the opportunity of its Q4 earnings last week to deliver perhaps the most emphatic comments yet from a major casino operator on the subject of prediction markets.
Given developments in the predictions space, particularly the moves by DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics to launch predictions products, the pressure on traditional gaming companies to state their position has never been greater.
CEO Tom Reeg’s answer was unambiguous. He told analysts plainly that Caesars would not be entering the prediction markets space under current conditions, framing the decision as one of regulatory risk management.
“In the current regulatory environment, you shouldn’t expect us to be participating in prediction markets,” he said.
“Some of our most valuable assets are our gaming licenses in each of the states that we operate, and it’s been made clear to us in a number of states that if we pursue that avenue, some of our brick-and-mortar licenses could be at risk.”
“You shouldn’t expect us to do that.”
On the side of the angels: Reeg’s framing is instructive and squarely aligns with the positions taken by the gaming regulators and attorneys general across various states.
“I would tell you, unequivocally, we view this as gambling that should not be [de]regulated,” he said.
“These are not swaps. They’re not miraculously finding the other side of a five-team parlay at the same time one side comes in, but we’ll let that play out through the courts.”
However, the courts may be a different matter. In Tennessee last week, a federal judge ruled that sports event contracts are not betting products and are appropriately classified as financial swaps.
This came with a ruling in favor of Kalshi’s request for an injunction to keep operating within the state while a lawsuit vs. the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council continues.
The judge ruled that the contracts fit the definition of swaps with financial consequences outlined in the Dodd-Frank Act, despite not being explicitly mentioned in the Commodity Exchange Act or US Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulations.
A crack of light: Back with Caesars’ Reeg, he was careful to at least leave the door ajar on prediction markets, “notwithstanding” the current position.
“If there becomes clarity that there is a legal path for prediction markets that satisfies regulators on the brick-and-mortar side, we will find a way to participate,” he said.
Reeg also offered his own prediction on how the regulatory picture will develop: “I think it will take a couple of years to wind its way through the courts, and you’ll have a patchwork of states where they’re not allowed, states where they’re allowed.”
Battered fish: The picture is notably different for DraftKings and Flutter, the parent of FanDuel, who have both seen their shares battered by prediction market fears.
Each has positioned themselves as competitors to Kalshi and Polymarket.
Both companies left the American Gaming Association as part of their pivot toward the prediction markets space.
They have each expressed confidence they are not putting their core state gaming licenses at risk, though that may yet be tested.
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More predictions
You’ve got class: A new federal proposed class action filed in Oregon on February 20 is alleging Kalshi operates an illegal online gambling enterprise through sports-linked event contracts.
The filing is the latest in a growing number of consumer class actions lodged against the prediction market operator, seeking damages, restitution, declaratory relief and a jury trial.
The complaint argues sports event contracts amount to unlicensed sports betting under state law.
In New York, a proposed class action in the Southern District of New York on January 13 alleges unlawful sports gambling and challenges Kalshi’s “peer-to-peer” positioning.
A separate proposed class action in Alabama filed January 29 similarly claims the platform violates state anti-gambling law by offering sports wagering via event contracts.
Same old song and dance: American Gaming Association (AGA) chief Bill Miller has come out swinging against sports events contracts again, pressing lawmakers and regulators to force the platforms onto the same state and tribal footing as licensed sportsbooks.
Miller said products that look and function like sports betting should face state and tribal licensing, oversight, integrity monitoring and the same tax obligations as regulated books.
The AGA said prediction market platforms are using “event contracts” to offer nationwide sports betting while evading state law and stripping states and tribes of regulatory jurisdiction.
The trade body claimed states have lost more than $500m in gaming tax revenue since prediction markets began offering sports event contracts.
It said there is a consumer protection gap, arguing prediction markets lack core safeguards common in state regulated sports betting, including age verification, geolocation controls and self-exclusion.
Miller’s push echoes a wider enforcement pattern cited by the AGA, including action by state attorneys general, gaming regulators, leagues and tribal authorities against sports event contracts.
Senate warning: Senate Agriculture Committee chair John Boozman has joined growing congressional opposition to sports event contracts offered by prediction market platforms, warning the fast-expanding sector resembles the “Wild West” due to limited regulatory oversight.
Boozman said lawmakers may need to intervene legislatively or through regulation because the product set closely resembles sports betting.
His comments add bipartisan pressure on the CFTC’s pro-market stance and come amid escalating legal battles between federal regulators, states and prediction market operators.
Florida: Gov. Ron DeSantis told CNBC’s Squawk Box that sports-event prediction markets might infringe upon the Seminole’s gaming exclusivity in the state.
Connecticut lawmakers have moved to tighten restrictions on prediction market platforms by raising the minimum participation age to 21, aligning the products with the state’s legal sports-betting age.
Regulators argue sports event contracts closely resemble gambling and lack consumer safeguards.
The measure forms part of a broader crackdown as state authorities continue challenging federally regulated prediction markets operating outside Connecticut’s licensed betting framework.
Brazilian predictions: A Brazil-based financial exchange called B3 has received a license to operate prediction markets from the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission last week.
B3 will be able to offer event contracts related to currency, stock indices and bitcoin movements.
It plans to launch in the next two months.
Calendar
Apr 28-29: Ethical Gambling Forum 2026, Leeds
May 26-28: Gambling & Risk Taking Conference, Las Vegas
Jun 4: Gaming in Holland, Amsterdam
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