No Legal Basis for EU-Wide Right to Consent to Bet

Sports betting has become a multi-billion Euro part of the sports/entertainment industry. Never in history has the range of bets that can be placed on various sports and on different platforms, been as wide-ranging as in its current form. Expectation is that this upward trend of sports betting will continue. With such vastly increased betting activity, opportunities for match-fixing by unscrupulous parties becomes ever-more possible.

Where Does the Money Go?

The authors of the EU report attempted to set down the rights of sports organisers, in relation to sports betting operators and assess the merits of a betting right. They also looked at the example of France, where sports betting operators must obtain the consent of sports organisers to offer bets. Part of the remit of the report was to try and understand the phenomenon of match-fixing and how gambling on sports events  might be better organised to alleviate what is a significant Europe (and world)-wide issue. One of the principle findings of the report was that the corollary of a regulated betting scene where money flows from sports betting operators, through organisers to benefit the grassroots, was unproven.

Conflicting Interests

The EU report highlighted its concern that a "sports betting right" would not be sustainable for the less popular and visible sports. It argued, "for most sports organisers the financial return would be insufficient to cover their own integrity costs." The report also mapped out that, "It is not evident that safeguarding the integrity of sports events constitutes the principal rationale of the French right to consent to bets." There were also concerns about anti-competitive monopolies being established as well as an unjustified restriction on the free movement of services within the EU.

Positive Response

The Secretaries General of the EGBA and ESSA as well as the Chief Executive of the RGA welcomed the report's findings, stating that a sports betting right had been shown not to safeguard the integrity of sports events as had been intended - and that there was shaky legal basis on which to try to implement it within the EU.