Legal Landscape of UK Football Betting: Current Regulations and Future Trends
For many football fans in the UK, sports betting is intrinsically linked to the beautiful game. Fans no longer keep an eye solely on the team they support; they keep a close watch over all players in all teams, all over the world. This way, they can bet on players that they deem to be ‘breaking the lines’ in their respective leagues, and bet on them to win big at the bookies.
Despite the widespread acceptance of football betting, the UK currently stands as one of the most heavily regulated markets in the world. However, heavily regulated does not necessarily reflect poor quality. According to sports betting expert Peter Addison, the best and most widely recommended betting sites for UK players are ones that are regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. These sites allow you to wager safely and securely.
In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at the current regulations that are in place in the UK, and also speculate about future trends that could soon emerge.
The Gambling Act 2005
Every form of legal wagering in the UK, whether it be sports betting or online casinos, is based on the Gambling Act 2005. This groundbreaking act clearly defined such terms as “wagering”, “betting”, “bonus”, and “prize” – four terms that are crucial to the world of online sports betting.
This act made it law that all gambling companies must provide fair and open sports wagering and created advertisement guidelines that businesses must follow.
It also witnessed the establishment of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), which is the UK’s main gambling regulatory body. They oversee that all the rules set out by the Gambling Act are followed by all sports betting companies.
The UK gambling market is a massive industry that is worth £15.1 billion, so the UKGC really has their work cut out for them.
The UK Gambling Commission
Since 2005, sports betting operators have had to obtain a license from the UKGC in order to provide wagering options to customers. Those operating without a license are doing so illegally. Before giving out a license, the UKGC will judge the legitimacy and fairness of a business. This helps to create a high standard of gambling sites in the UK.
Once a license is granted, the UKGC will conduct regular compliance audits to make sure that operators are continuing to provide a high level of customer safety and protection. Should the UKGC identify a business that is not delivering a good gambling service, an investigation will be launched. If this investigation reveals further problems, the UKGC will issue sanctions and penalties. In serious cases, licenses can be revoked permanently.
Besides checking businesses for openness and fairness, a big part of UKGC’s duty is to ensure that no sports betting platforms are being used for money laundering in the UK. They do this by ensuring that each betting site has preventive measures put in place.
One measure that the UKGC makes mandatory is Know Your Customer (KYC) checks. These checks require new sports bettors to verify their identities by submitting ID and proof of address. This way, players can provide details about each of their customers should money laundering take place.
The Advertisement Standards Authority (ASA)
The Advertisement Standards Authority (ASA) is a regulatory organisation that sets standards for advertising in the UK. While it cannot enforce standards, the ASA basically creates the rulebook that UK gambling institutions must follow.
The UKGC’s License Conditions and Codes of Practice specifically state that operators must comply with and follow the ASA codes.
The codes are numerous, but mainly state that gambling bodies must avoid doing the following:
- Suggesting that gambling could be a solution to financial troubles.
- Appealing to children.
- Depict socially irresponsible gambling.
- Suggest that gambling can be linked to sexual attraction.
- Make advertisements using actors who are or who look under the age of 25.
The ACA also handles complaints related to the gambling industry. In 2023, they received a total of 39,034 complaints.
Gambling and taxes
Despite being so heavily regulated, one thing that’s interesting about UK gambling is that bettors do not have to pay taxes on any money that they earn. It doesn’t matter how much you win on a sports wagering site, you get to take home 100% of your earnings. This is not the case in some other countries, such as France and the USA, which impose varying degrees of taxation on gambling winnings.
The UK formally taxed gambling earnings but stopped this in 2001 due to the rise in offshore betting sites. UK gamblers realised that they weren’t being taxed when using offshore alternatives, so stopped using UK-based gambling sites. The UK government decided to remove the gambling tax to encourage gamblers to put more money into the UK gambling industry.
The future of gambling regulation in the UK
Given that the Gambling Act 2005 was nearly 20 years ago, there’s a high chance that a new gambling act could come into place soon. The world of sports betting has changed so much in the last 20 years that creating a new Gambling Act would be justified.
The Conservative government published a whitepaper in 2023 titled “High Stakes: Gambling Reform For The Digital Age”. This whitepaper proposed major changes that would affect all areas of the gambling market, including sports betting. The UKGC was onboard to enforce the changes detailed and it looked as though it was going ahead.
However, the General Election and the victory of the Labour Party in the meantime have put this on hold.
Whether or not a major act is about to be introduced remains unclear. However, various aspects of gambling will likely be regulated in the future.
For example, there are no specific provisions in place regarding crypto gambling. This is when you place a sports bet using crypto as opposed to a fiat currency such as the British pound.
Additionally, AI has impacted sports betting for both the bettor and the operator. The bettor can use it to analyze mass amounts of data at once, while the operator can use it to monitor betting patterns. The use of AI in the sports betting world will likely also soon be better regulated.
Final thoughts
Football betting is heavily regulated in the UK, but there’s good reason for it. Bodies such as the UKGC keep gambling open and fair, allowing bettors to have the best and safest gambling experience possible. Plus, the fact that gambling isn’t taxed in the UK is a huge bonus and makes the UK gambling scene unique.