Premier League Clubs In Danger of Promoting Illegal Gambling as TGP Europe Exits UK Market

The white label operator TGP Europe has officially left the UK gambling market… with unexpected repercussions for a handful of Premier League football clubs.

A number of overseas betting firms have used TGP Europe to get a leg up into the UK sector, and they have since gone on to sponsor EPL teams – Newcastle United and both Fun88 and SportsBet.io, bj88 and Bournemouth, DEBET and Wolves, Fulham and SBOTOP, BC.GAME and Leicester City and finally Stake and Everton.

Also embroiled in the matter is Burnley FC, who were promoted to the Premier League for the 2025/26 season and who wear 96.com – another TGP partner – branding on their shirt.

But TGP Europe has surrendered its UK operating licence after being handed a mammoth £3.3 million fine by the Gambling Commission, which means that the Premier League clubs named are – technically – now promoting illegal betting.

And if they don’t make strides quickly to rectify the situation, club officials could be personally punished – with fines and even imprisonment amongst the available penalties.

Controversial Goings-On

TGP Europe Logo

It has been a year of controversy for a number of firms under the TGP Europe banner.

Stake, the Australian sports betting firm, were warned about their conduct after promoting a series of risqué social media posts with their branded watermark on them.

The regulator initiated an investigation against the firm, who then voluntarily opted to leave the UK market after TGP Europe opted to shut down their site. Despite that, Everton have continued to display the Stake branding on the front of their playing shirt.

BC.GAME, meanwhile, were rumoured to have been declared bankrupt by regulators in Curacao, the Caribbean island on which they, and many other betting firms, are headquartered.

Leicester City, who inked a front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with BC.GAME in the summer of 2024, were forced to issue a statement playing down fears over the payment of the lucrative agreement.

And the mire got deeper as TGP Europe, the white label firm that partners with international operators who piggy-back their UK licence, have now exited the domestic market as well.

According to the Gambling Commission, the company was issued an ultimatum: pay a £3.3 million fine and make significant improvements, or surrender your UK licence.

TGP Europe opted for the latter, and will now no longer be able to offer a UK leg up for its overseas partners.

Premier League Penalty

Footballer with Blue Sock

At the time of writing, there’s just two rounds of Premier League games in the 2024/25 season to be played.

And, given that Everton are still wearing their Stake-sponsored shirt, it’s unlikely that the teams impacted by TGP Europe’s hasty retreat will be asked to change their shirt sponsor – or play without one entirely.

But even so, the Gambling Commission has written to the clubs affected to warn them of the perils of being seen to promote unlicensed gambling… with ramifications likely for the 2025/26 campaign if changes aren’t made.

The regulator has asked representatives of each club to ensure that UK-based punters cannot access any of the sites they are promoting – that includes the use of VPNs to circumnavigate geo-blocking tools.

If the necessary ‘due diligence’ isn’t performed, named members of each club could be fined or even thrown in jail if they are found to be promoting illegal gambling.

John Pierce, the Commission’s head of enforcement, confirmed that TGP Europe partners can no longer offer their products to UK customers lawfully, adding:

“We have already been in contact with several football clubs today to highlight the impact of the withdrawal from the market by TGP and make clear that we will be carrying out checks to ensure these sites remain blocked.

“Should any of these sites be available to GB consumers, we will take appropriate action.”

And so Premier League clubs can continue to wear sponsorship branding as long as the now unlicensed sites cannot be accessed from the UK – which means that some, if not all, the current deals will remain in place.

That’s because a number of overseas betting firms, particularly those in Asia, use their sponsorship deals to promote their platforms in their own jurisdiction, with hundreds of millions of people tuning into Premier League games on TV each week.

It may, of course, just be easier for the clubs involved to seek new commercial partners. AFC Bournemouth are scheduled to wear the bj88 branding during the 2025/26 season, having penned a two-year agreement with the outfit back in the summer of 2024.

The same is true for Burnley and Wolves, although it’s thought that Fulham’s shirt sponsor is up for negotiation this summer. Newcastle’s affected deals are with background commercial partners, rather than shirt sponsors.