Sos

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Entain has once again called upon the UK government to immediately ban sports sponsorship deals involving unlicensed gambling operators.

In a press release on Friday, Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain urged the government to “close the loophole without delay” in response to a Department for Culture, Media and Sport consultation on the matter.

The second consultation, which ran from 15 July to 9 September, followed an initial review in February.

About Sos

He adds that the recurring weakness is often not an absence of policies but a failure to ensure “technology, algorithms and operational processes actually work in practice”. Some of the QuinnBet issues followed a platform migration, underlining the need to retest controls whenever systems change.

As QuinnBet is also licensed in Gibraltar, Williams expects its regulator to consider the UK’s findings under the jurisdiction’s strengthened Gambling Act 2025. That would not necessarily require a second sanction, but Gibraltar must satisfy itself that any underlying weaknesses have been addressed, he says.

QuinnBet is just the latest news.

What is Sos?

From July 2027, the company will lose exclusivity over betting and iCasino products, which will become licence-based, while retaining exclusive rights for lottery games, scratchcards, slot machines and physical table games. 

The company has committed to paying market-based compensation for exclusive operations, estimated at around €1 billion for a 10-year licence period, with a significant front-loaded payment scheduled for 2026.

In further preparations for the competitive market, Veikkaus this week joined the market’s trade body, the Finnish Gambling Association, which has long lobbied for market liberalisation.