Stefan Borson
Wed 28 May 2025 7:30, UK
Newcastle United are among the Premier League clubs to have been threatened with imprisonment for officials over their relationship with an unlicensed gambling firm.
BBC Sport reported on 16 May Newcastle, Bournemouth, Fulham, Burnley and Wolves have all been warned over their controversial sponsorships from betting websites run by TGP Europe, which no longer has a UK license.
The Gambling Commission says it is seeking assurances “that consumers in Great Britain cannot transact with the unlicensed sites”.
FUN88 was the front-of-shirt sponsor at Newcastle between 2018 and 2023, and are now the club’s official Asian betting partner.
Finance expert Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider the Premier League clubs are facing a “conflict” due to the importance of betting sponsorships.
Everton, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City received a similar warning in February, but they all still wear gambling sponsors on their matchday shirts.
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Premier League clubs have agreed to end gambling sponsorships on the front of shirts by the end of next season.
Chairman of Newcastle United, Yasir Al-Rumayyan arrives at the stadium prior to the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Tottenham Hot...
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Premier League clubs aware of ‘significant’ sponsorship issues
Borson insisted top-flight sides are aware of the “significant” issues surrounding gambling sponsorships.
He told Football Insider: “No one’s going to take a chance.
“If there was any risk at all, they’d get these logos out of the way. I suspect people will get until the end of the season, and then all of this betting stuff will be reassessed for the new season.
“They are all aware. It’s not like these issues are not flagged up internally at all the clubs. They all know that there are significant issues here, so nobody’s going to take a risk, certainly not of prison and breaches of law in respect of it.
“But the flip side of that is the money is important. These clubs have got little other option but to go to the betting market for meaningful sponsorship deals.
“Just look at how much of the Premier League has betting sponsors. It’s a lot. A lot of them actually, if you go on some of the websites, you don’t even see these partners because a lot of them are done in global deals.
“If you were to go on Chelsea’s website, for example, to see all of their global partners, from a betting perspective you have to look at the VPN, so you’d have to go and look at each of these territories to see all of these betting partners. They don’t all appear if you go to the UK site.
“They are already careful about it, but they are also important, so this is the sort of conflict that they’ve got.”
Newcastle to back Eddie Howe as transfer plan revealed
In terms of on-field matters, Football Insider revealed on 12 May Newcastle are planning to back Eddie Howe by strengthening his squad in a busy transfer window.
The Tyneside club’s priority targets are the additions of a new centre-back, right-winger and goalkeeper amid concerns about their current options.
Newcastle are set to play Champions League football next season after finishing the campaign in fifth place.
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