Lords call for gambling sponsorship oversight from new football regulator IFR

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Vice president of the UK Sports Association, Lord Addington, has called for a newly formed independent football regulator to oversee an in-depth review of advertising and sponsorship in the sport. 

Addington wants to completely eliminate football gambling advertising on TV within the UK, in the next five years. His proposals were put forward as amendments to the Football Governance Bill, currently being debated in the upper house.

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The proposals were ultimately rejected, but Addington did get some support from Labour’s Baroness Taylor. 

Taylor suggested that the Governance Bill was not the right vehicle to take the proposals forward, however, and it is likely that Addington will be back with similar calls for reform in the future. 

The Football Governance Bill was originally introduced to the House of Commons in March 2024. Among its aims is the formation of an independent football regulator (IFR) who will oversee elite-level football and ensure financial resilience for professional clubs. 

The bill doesn’t directly touch on gambling or sponsorship. However, as it was being debated Lord Addington used the opportunity to propose that the newly formed IFR should be given the remit of reviewing sponsorship and advertising deals to ultimately eliminate all TV football betting advertising within five years. 

While putting forward his proposed amendments to the bill, Addington commented: “Certain sports such as horse racing tend to be dependent on gambling, but we have something of a surfeit of gambling advertising on our televisions: it is everywhere.” 

In response to Addington’s comments, Labour’s Taylor of Bolton said: “I have a great deal of sympathy with what the noble Lord, Lord Addington, has been saying, although I am not sure this is the vehicle for what he actually wants to do.”

However, not everybody agreed with Lord Addington’s proposals with Baroness Fox of Buckley stating: 

“This group of amendments, which is antagonistic to every aspect of gambling being involved in football, seems to me to be the epitome of what I have been warning about in terms of an intrusive and disproportionate regulatory overreach.”

Conservative Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay also acknowledged the concerns regarding on-screen advertising of football betting, saying:

“While I acknowledge the concerns that the noble Lord, Lord Addington, raised, I must agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Fox, that this is not the bill for these concerns.”

There has been a lot of discussion surrounding what some politicians call bloated bureaucracy in recent months, and not just from the upper house. 

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has made it his mission to cut quangos and minimise bureaucracy, and has announced that he intends to abolish NHS England, bringing control of the health service back under democratic control in a bid to “cut bureaucracy”.

And, for now, the UK Government looks to be happy with recent moves taken by the clubs themselves to help reduce the impact of football betting. 

In 2023, it was announced that Premier League clubs would initiate a self-imposed ban on front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship deals starting from the 2026/27 season. 

During discussions, Premier League clubs were allegedly advised that the self-imposed restrictions would help stave off the imposition of legislation.