BOF Blog – David Clifton – How will the new licensing laws effect sponsorship?

David Clifton MD of CliftonDavies opens the Betting on Football (BOF) Conference by telling the BOF audience that change is imminent for UK operators, and that the legal and regulatory landscape for gambling operators will change drastically in the next months.

Clifton states that legislation will be implemented by August 2014, currently the new amendments to the Gambling Bill are awaiting Royal Consent, Clifton assures the audience that this represents the final stages of the legislation process and that the proposed amendments are unlikely to change.

SBC Session Notes

• The Remote Gambling Association is to make recommendations on any changes needed to the Industry Code, including on the suitability of the 9pm watershed arrangements.

• The Committee of Advertising Practice and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice are to evaluate the latest evidence in relation to gambling advertising and problem gambling to consider what regulatory implications arise as a result.

• The Advertising Standards Authority is to report on the proportionality, robustness and consistency of its enforcement action on the gambling rules.
• The Gambling Commission is to ensure that its current review of license conditions and codes of practice (which includes a focus on free bets and bonuses) ensures that all gambling advertising continues to comply with the licensing objectives of the Gambling Act.
• Clifton said that impacts of gambling advertising restrictions on Football Clubs introduced by the changes to the law will be felt throughout, with football clubs both inside and outside the Premiership likely to be affected in terms of much needed revenue generation.  Although he came up with a possible way in which gambling operators unlicensed in the UK might still continue to sponsor football clubs here without breaking the law, he urged that any future approaches to the Gambling Commission should look to be more encompassing taking into account the negative effects on all stakeholders not just gambling operators.

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