Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming May 2014 44 Rules Britannia Asian operators may need to rethink their lucrative Premier League sponsorship deals T he longstanding relationship between Asian gambling brands and the football clubs of England’s Premier League is set to come under pressure because of the UK’s new gambling rules and the approach taken by the UK Gambling Commission in implementing them. At least 15 of the 20 Premier League clubs are sponsored by Asian-facing betting brands, whether in the “Official Gambling Partner” category or as a main shirt sponsor. The relationship has been a big success, with the clubs benefiting from growing sponsorship revenues and the bookmakers successfully leveraging the insatiable appetite for Premier League football among Asian consumers. That could all be about to change, however, with the implementation of the UK’s controversial new gambling law, the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Bill. The first point to note is that the bill is actually not supposed to have anything to do with Asian-facing operators. In fact, the stated purpose of the bill is about enhancing UK consumer protection by ensuring that operators that take bets or advertise to British customers obtain a license from the Gambling Commission and comply with the regulatory requirements that go with that. The issue, however, is that the bill is something of a blunt instrument. It does not formally distinguish between advertising in the UK that is targeted at the UK and advertising in the UK that is targeted internationally. This is important because, put simply, Asian brands are primarily on Premier League shirts because they are picked up by the TV cameras that are beaming pictures into homes across Asia, not to target a British audience. Let’s look at how this plays out from a regulatory perspective. Sponsorship (whether on shirts, perimeter advertising boards or just “official partner” status on a club’s Web site) constitutes advertising within the scope of the UK’s existing gambling law, the Gambling Act 2005. Right now, gambling operators can advertise in the UK without having a UK gambling license as long as the operators in question have a license in the European Economic Area, Gibraltar or a so- called “White List” territory. The majority of the big Asian gaming brands have a license in the Isle of Man. The key change the bill brings into effect is that operators advertising gambling in the UK need to have a license in the UK. There are some good reasons why Asian operators might not want to seek a UK license. The first is that they are not really Matt Pollins is an attorney with the Singapore office of Olswang LLP, an international law firm based in London. He specializes in the media and technology sectors and regularly advises on commercial agreements and regulatory issues related to gambling and social gaming. For information visit: www.olswang.com . By Matt Pollins The View