{"id":177217,"date":"2021-06-22T03:34:26","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T10:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=177217"},"modified":"2021-06-22T11:53:43","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T18:53:43","slug":"sportquake-called-out-over-epl-white-label-sponsorship-deals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportquake-called-out-over-epl-white-label-sponsorship-deals\/","title":{"rendered":"London Marketing Firm Called Out Over Controversial EPL \u2018White-Label\u2019 Sponsorship Deals"},"content":{"rendered":"

A London-based marketing agency has been criticized for brokering deals between elite soccer teams and betting companies. The betting firms allegedly want to use the global reach of Europe\u2019s top leagues as a springboard to target illegal markets.<\/p>\n

\"SportQuake
LoveBet\u2019s sponsorship of Burnley in the 2019-20 season (pictured) saw players carrying the Mandarin version of the operators\u2019 logo on their jerseys. (Image: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SportQuake proclaims on its website that it \u201chelps brands connect to the global football [soccer] phenomenon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

But it has been called out by The Athletic<\/em> for its role in steering English Premier League teams towards deals with obscure betting companies. Those firms allegedly use the controversial \u201cwhite-label\u201d licensing system<\/a> to do business in the UK.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The system allows a betting platform to be designed to look and feel like a certain company or brand, but is, in fact, hosted and managed by a \u201cwhite-label\u201d third party that is licensed in the UK.<\/p>\n

Jersey sponsorship over the past two EPL seasons has been dominated by betting operators that focus on unregulated Asian markets, such as China, where direct gambling marketing is illegal.<\/p>\n

SportQuake Big-Money Deals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

SportQuake has played a role in brokering sponsorship agreements for companies from all sectors with soccer teams and superstar players. But it has also set up big-money deals between Tottenham Hotspur and Fun88, for example, and Paris Saint-Germain and LoveBet.<\/p>\n

SportQuake has failed to respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

\n

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has expressed \u201cconcern\u201d that such companies may not have effective anti-money laundering (AML) protocols in place and could potentially even have links to organized crime.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But these companies are permitted to do business under the British regulatory system because of the white-label loophole.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, The Athletic<\/em> approached numerous soccer teams for comment about their sponsorship relationships with Asian-facing betting companies. Almost none could give simple answers about where their strategic partners were based.<\/p>\n

The teams are culpable for failing to do basic due diligence. But many betting companies that operate through the white label system can, to a degree, hide behind their third-party partners. This means it\u2019s often unclear where they\u2019re located and who owns them.<\/p>\n

Ripe for Reform<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The UK government is undertaking a review that promises to tighten regulatory controls and will examine the white-label system.<\/p>\n

We do not currently investigate marketing partners as part of an application, but we would if an issue were brought to our attention,”<\/strong> the UKGC said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

UK soccer\u2019s dependency on the betting industry for funding has come under fierce scrutiny over the past few years, igniting a backlash among the media, fans, and politicians. The British betting industry has backed off in response. But this has left the door open to a new breed of operator that has little interest in the UK market.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Norwich City announced<\/a> it had terminated a lucrative jersey sponsorship agreement with Asian-facing betting outfit BK8 just three days into the deal. That’s because of the company\u2019s use of sexualized images of very young women in its marketing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A London-based marketing agency has been criticized for brokering deals between elite soccer teams and betting companies. The betting firms allegedly want to use the global reach of Europe\u2019s top leagues as a springboard to target illegal markets. SportQuake proclaims on its website that it \u201chelps brands connect to the global football [soccer] phenomenon.\u201d But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":177218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSportQuake Called Out Over EPL \u2018White-Label\u2019 Sponsorship Deals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SportQuake, London-based marketing firm criticized for brokering deals between elite soccer and Asian facing gambling companies.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SportQuake Called Out Over EPL \u2018White-Label\u2019 Sponsorship Deals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SportQuake, London-based marketing firm criticized for brokering deals between elite soccer and Asian facing gambling companies.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportquake-called-out-over-epl-white-label-sponsorship-deals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-22T10:34:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-22T18:53:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/1174641156.jpg.0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportquake-called-out-over-epl-white-label-sponsorship-deals\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportquake-called-out-over-epl-white-label-sponsorship-deals\/\",\"name\":\"SportQuake Called Out Over EPL \u2018White-Label\u2019 Sponsorship Deals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportquake-called-out-over-epl-white-label-sponsorship-deals\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportquake-called-out-over-epl-white-label-sponsorship-deals\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/1174641156.jpg.0.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-22T10:34:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-22T18:53:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"SportQuake, London-based marketing firm criticized for brokering deals between elite soccer and Asian facing gambling companies.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportquake-called-out-over-epl-white-label-sponsorship-deals\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportquake-called-out-over-epl-white-label-sponsorship-deals\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportquake-called-out-over-epl-white-label-sponsorship-deals\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/1174641156.jpg.0.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/1174641156.jpg.0.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"LoveBet\u2019s sponsorship of Burnley in the 2019-20 season (pictured) saw players carrying the Mandarin version of the operators\u2019 logo on their jerseys. 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He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. 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