UKGC goes after Premier League partner Sorare

The United Kingdom Gambling Commission is set to take crypto fantasy sports platform Sorare to court next week. The regulator has accused the company, which is an official sponsor of the Premier League, of offering illegal gambling.

UKGC ready to argue its case against Sorare in court

Due to appear at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on Friday, October 4, Sorare has denied any wrongdoing.

Sorare uses the imagery and likeness of soccer players to create digital collectable cards based on non-fungible token (NFT) technology that can be fielded into fantasy games, combining fanfare paraphernalia and gamification elements.

The platform uses the Ethereum blockchain to develop this proposition and has been running its business globally, signing one prominent soccer league after the other. Sorare has said that there has been no attempt on the company’s end to offer what the regulator has described as "illegal gambling."

The company, though, has refrained from offering extensive public comment on the issue, arguing instead that it would have to address the matter in court because of the ongoing legal proceedings against it.

Sorare has long been on the UKGC’s list of companies that the regulator has considered to be possibly breaking its regulatory requirements.

In October 2021, the watchdog began to investigate whether Sorare had indeed offered a type of gambling service in the country but had failed to seek a license.

NFTs coming under fire in Europe and the United States

In the meantime, the NFT bonanza may be coming to a long-prognosticated end.

Sorare is not the only company to have come over the regulatory barrel, with DraftKings in the United States staving off a lawsuit against it by pulling the plug on the DraftKings Marketplace

In turn, the company incurred the wrath of player associations in the country, which are now pushing their case against the sportsbook for failing to honor payments.

Sorare’s case is only now being fleshed out with the UKGC taking the first step in what could be a long legal proceeding.

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