UK LEGAL COMMENT
Photo by Keenan Constance
White Paper? Anyone?
Northridge Law’s Melanie Ellis can almost smell the Gambling Act White Paper. THAT’s how close it is!
A 30 MAY 2023
t the time of writing, the Government’s Gambling Act White Paper seems closer than ever but has yet to materialise. Indications that it would be published shortly after Easter have so far proved unfounded, with Stuart Andrew
(Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport) stating on 17 April, in response to a written question, that it would be published “in the coming weeks”.
I
am keeping my fingers firmly crossed that the document will have been published by the time you are reading this column, but our hopes have been dashed many times before!
Football and gambling advertising In advance of the White Paper’s publication, Premier League football clubs have reached a voluntary agreement to phase out gambling sponsors on front of shirts with a ban coming into effect from the 2026-27 season. For those gambling operators currently sponsoring clubs, or considering a sponsorship, this means contracts must account for the upcoming ban and (in relation to clubs in lower leagues) for
the impact should they be promoted. In light of this arrangement being finalised, the White Paper will almost certainly not include advertising restrictions relating to sports sponsorship and may not include additional advertising restrictions at all, with this agreement seen as a significant step to reduce the exposure of children and vulnerable people to gambling advertising. The “strong appeal” rule (the CAP and BCAP Codes’
provision that gambling adverts must not be of strong appeal to under 18s) has, since coming into force in October 2022, already restricted associations between gambling and football in advertising. The latest decision of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) under this rule concluded that Bet Victor breached the CAP Code by featuring FC Barcelona players Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets in a Facebook advert. CAP guidance states that non-UK ‘star’ footballers,
particularly those at top European clubs, are considered high risk of being of strong appeal to under 18s. The key consideration in the ASA’s ruling was whether Alba and Busquets were ‘star’ footballers, FC Barcelona being a top
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