FA under pressure to pull deal giving bookmakers streaming rights

The English Football Association has come under pressure from the UK government and anti-gambling campaigners to cancel a controversial broadcasting contract that allows high-profile FA Cup matches to be viewed through betting company websites. 

Nicky Morgan, secretary of state for culture, media and sport, called on English football’s governing body to “reconsider” its commercial arrangements with online bookmakers, after claims emerged that Bet365 was demanding that punters make a bet or open an account with a £5 deposit before they watch FA Cup games through its online app. 

Streaming deals with bookmakers are common across sport, but over recent months there has been mounting concern about commercial links between the betting industry and football, particularly over how children and addicts are bombarded with messages that encourage betting during matches. 

In 2017, the FA signed a six-year media rights deal with sports agency IMG that included a provision that allowed IMG to sell online streaming rights to some FA Cup matches to gambling companies. IMG subsequently concluded deals with UK betting groups including Bet365, Ladbrokes Coral and Betfair.

Bet365 said it did not have an exclusive deal to show the FA’s games on its website and that it had no direct dealings with the FA.

In order to watch the games, Bet365, GVC — the owner of Ladbrokes Coral — and Flutter, Betfair’s parent company, said that customers either needed to have a funded account or have placed a bet on any event on the company’s site in the previous 24 hours.

Bet365 said the funds in the customer’s account could be as little as 1p and that this was necessary in order to comply with customer verification requirements. “[We] believe that these streaming services provide added value to customers and enable them to watch FA Cup matches that they might not otherwise have been able to see,” it added.

IMG declined to comment.

Despite the contracts being in place since the start of last season, a critical story about the arrangement in the Daily Mail on Wednesday has led to a new wave of criticism from ministers and gambling activists. 

Nigel Adams, sports minister, said: “The gambling landscape has changed since this deal was signed in early 2017. All sports bodies need to be mindful of the impact that problem gambling can have on the most vulnerable.” 

In recent years, the FA has attempted to distance itself from the betting industry. In June 2017, it pulled out of a sponsorship deal worth £4m a year with Ladbrokes Coral. That move followed criticism from the player Joey Barton, who was banned by the FA for 18 months for breaching its rules by placing bets on matches. Mr Barton said it was hypocritical for the body to impose such a ban while having lucrative partnerships with gambling companies. 

This is a rotten deal from start to finish, and it is extremely disappointing that the FA has been such a willing participant

“This [IMG betting] deal was agreed before we made a clear decision on the FA’s relationship with gambling companies . . . when we ended our partnership with Ladbrokes,” said an FA spokesperson. “We will review this element of the media rights sales process ahead of tendering rights to the new cycle from the 2024-25 season onwards.”

However, anti-gambling activists and health campaigners called on the FA to take more urgent action.

Shirley Cramer, chief executive of Royal Society for Public Health, called for the current streaming deals with betting companies to be “scrapped”. 

“This is a rotten deal from start to finish, and it is extremely disappointing that the FA has been such a willing participant in the gamblification of football,” she said.

“Football has played a historic role in unifying our society, yet problem gambling and gambling disorder can tear families and communities apart, and has led to the loss of far too many lives already.” 

Bet365 booked pre-tax profits of £800m in the year to the end of March 2019 — a 17 per cent increase on the previous 12 months. Its founder and chief executive Denise Coates was awarded a pay packet of £323m, making her the highest-paid head of a UK company.