New blow for Leicester City after sponsor B.C Game lose gaming licence

Imago
After we reported Leicester City came out in defence of front-of-shirt sponsor B.C Game’s bankruptcy claims on 21 November, reports on Thursday from football website Josimar have revealed that the company is allegedly running one of the most illegal betting networks in Europe.

According to a document seen by Josimar, the Curaçao Gaming Control Board (GCB) is to revoke the licence of Small Dance B.V., the company which operates the online sports betting, casino and crypto trading platform BC.GAME, current sponsor of Leicester City FC and partner of the Argentinian football federation AFA.

Small House B.V. was declared bankrupt by the Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the BES Islands on 12 November, having failed to pay back over $2m owed to a group of five gamblers.

The firm had taken over BC.GAME from another company, Blockdance B.B., on 30 April 2024. Blockdance B.V. was also declared bankrupt during this period of time.

If these alleged reports come to pass, this will be another blow for Leicester City after standing by their partnership amid B.C GAME’s legal and financial issues. Potentially losing their lucrative front-of-shirt sponsorship, could significantly impact the club’s income, all while the club try to appoint a new permanent manager in a bid to stay in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, the loss of their Curacao licence could further complicate matters due to BC. GAME's platform still not being active in the UK. The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) have previously cautioned fellow Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace about the risks of commercial deals with operators not active in the UK market.

This all comes as the Premier League are set to impose clubs a ban to stop front-of-shirt betting deals from the 2026/27 season onwards. This will present a new challenge for clubs outside the top six whose commercial deals and revenue weigh heavily on lucrative partnerships with betting firms both on shirt sponsorship and off-the-field deals.  Currently, 11 of the 20 Premier League clubs have front-of-shirt betting sponsors during the 2024-25 campaign.