SoftBank-backed fantasy sports start-up accused over unlicensed gambling

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SoftBank-backed fantasy football start-up Sorare is facing charges of providing unlicensed gambling services by Britain’s betting regulator, in a blow to the company that has partnered with some of the world’s biggest sport leagues.

The Gambling Commission on Thursday said it was taking the French start-up to court next week over charges of providing unlicensed gambling facilities to consumers, in a rare use of the regulator’s powers.

Sorare, founded in 2018, was last valued in 2021 at $4.3bn when SoftBank led a $680mn investment into the Paris-based start-up. It has quickly expanded through a series of partnerships, including a multimillion-pound licensing deal with the English Premier League last year.

Sorare said it would challenge the charge. “We firmly deny any claims that Sorare is a gambling product under UK laws. The Commission has misunderstood our business and wrongly determined that gambling laws apply to Sorare,” it said.

The court case comes after the Gambling Commission kicked off an investigation into Sorare in 2021, as it sought to determine whether the fantasy game constitutes gambling and requires a licence. The hearing is set to take place at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on October 4.

The company runs a popular online game that allows fans to pick an imagined team of real footballers, earning points according to their performance on the pitch. Players of the fantasy game can earn or buy digital football cards, known as non-fungible tokens, secured on the blockchain, which can also be traded as unique items.

Sorare expanded through a series of partnerships with athletes, clubs and leagues, at a time when the sports industry turned to cryptocurrencies and digital tokens to generate commercial revenues.

The Premier League, the world’s richest domestic club competition, obtained an option to buy an equity stake in Sorare as part of a wider four-year licensing deal struck in January 2023.

“The way that supporters follow their favourite teams and players is evolving and the Premier League is always looking for ways to engage with fans,” Premier League chief Richard Masters said at the time.

The Premier League declined to comment on Thursday.

Sorare also has licensing deals with Spanish football competition La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, and the German Bundesliga, among other leagues. Former football players Rio Ferdinand and Gerard Piqué are listed as partners on the Sorare website, alongside French star Kylian Mbappé.

In North America, it partnered with the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball.

The UK’s gambling laws have failed to keep pace with the rapid expansion of online gambling. The former Conservative government last year published a white paper listing several major proposals to give tougher restrictions on online betting including maximum slot stakes. 

Additional reporting by Eri Sugiura