AFC Bournemouth sponsor exits UK after Gambling Commission white label crackdown
White label operator TGP Europe has surrendered its licence to the UK’s Gambling Commission after it was told to pay a £3.3 million penalty. The fine follows an investigation into the operator and a number of white label football sponsorship deals.
TGP has a number of sponsorship deals with UK football teams, including AFC Bournemouth, Fulham, Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley. TGP’s bj-88.co.uk brand signed on as AFC Bournemouth’s front-of-shirt sponsor for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 Premier League seasons, last July.
The Gambling Commission today said it has contacted these teams to inform them that they now run the risk of promoting unlicensed gambling websites and could themselves face penalties.
The UK’s gambling watchdog said it is “seeking assurance from the clubs that they have carried out due diligence on their white label partners and that consumers in Great Britain cannot transact with the unlicensed sites.”
TGP ran 29 websites in the UK, including Duelbits.co.uk, betvision.com, Leyubet.co.uk, Fun88.co.uk and Oubao.co.uk.
The Gambling Commission stated that TGP had failed to carry out sufficient checks on its business partners and had broken anti-money laundering rules.
As such, the UK regulator hit TGP with a £3.3 million penalty and requested that it make “significant improvements” in its business operation so it could remain trading in the UK market.
The white label operator instead elected to give up its right to operate legally in the UK.
TGP investigated by the Gambling Commission
The Gambling Commission said an investigation had found that TGP had failed to carry out due diligence on each entity involved in the ownership of third parties it worked with. It also failed to carry out due diligence on the source of money used for business deals.
TGP had not given proper consideration regarding money laundering risks. Nor had it “sufficiently considered” whether activity by third-parties it dealt with was illegal, stated the Gambling Commission.
“Following TGP’s exit, several online gambling operators can no longer lawfully offer gambling facilities to consumers located in Great Britain,” Gambling Commission Head of Enforcement John Pierce said.
“These sites, previously operating under TGP’s licence, may not provide adequate protection against criminal activity or gambling-related harm and should not be available to GB consumers with immediate effect.”
The Commission has advised the public to check which sites are legal on the business register in order to avoid gambling on TGP sites which are now illegal and may not offer proper protections.
TGP was previously fined by the Gambling Commission in 2023 for a number of anti-money laundering and social responsibility breaches. The group was given a £316,250 and an official warning.
White label football sponsorship reforms
The TGP penalty and licence surrender will cast fresh light on the operation of white label sponsorship in English football.
White label football sponsorships have been targeted for investigation by both the UK government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Gambling Commission.
In the UK, non-UK licensed operators can make sponsorship arrangements with sports teams, if the white label version of their offering is undertaken by a UK licensed company.
This model has come under scrutiny in recent years. Gambling minister Baroness Twycross stated at a GambleAware conference in December that the model was under investigation.
Twycross announcement came hot on the heels of news that the Curacao-licensed BC Game was found to be operating illegally. BC Game had also been declared bankrupt by a local court for failing to pay players. BC Game decided in December to withdraw its licence from what it called an “increasingly hostile” Curaçao market.
Speaking on white label reforms, Twycross stated that investigations were underway and that “If further action is needed, we will take it”.