Alien Invaders

What is Alien Invaders?

Premier League clubs are prohibited from any form of gambling front-of-shirt sponsor, after a voluntary ban came in from the start of the 2026-27 campaign.

But Entain found 11 of the current 20 Premier League clubs still hold sponsorship or advertising arrangements with operators that don’t hold a UK licence, up from the government’s estimate of eight.

The deals include sleeve sponsorships, stadium branding and training kits.

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Frequent bettors are significantly more likely to report that their betting habits are impacting other corners of their financial lives. Of those who bet daily on sports, 40% say they have debts that they attribute to wagers they made,” the report said.

“Nearly half of all respondents (45%) say they’ve borrowed money to place sports bets, with 13% taking out a personal loan to bankroll their betting and 11% securing funds through a high-interest payday loan,” the report continued.

Many sports bettors are unfazed by the high-stakes financial reality of gambling on sports.

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There is a second complication. The relentless flow of Commission statements may eventually make enforcement less damaging rather than more.

“The regulatory failures are unhelpful but perhaps the sheer number and regularity of them has made them less remarkable, such that they become ‘wallpaper’,” Waugh says.

He argues that some lawyers and licensees believe the Commission’s presentation of cases is detached from the operational reality but feel they have little option other than to accept the “regulator’s truth” when settling.