Crypto game that partners with Premier League charged by Gambling Commission
The UK’s Gambling Commission has charged a cryptocurrency-based online betting game.
Sorare.com, which is a partner of the Premier League, has been charged with providing unlicensed gambling facilities to British consumers.
It is extremely rare for the Gambling Commission to flex its powers in this way, which makes charging Sorare a historic step for the regulator.
A statement released by the Gambling Commission stated that a hearing for the crypto-based game will take place on the morning of October 4 at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court.
Sorare, which counts stars of the game such as Real Madrid and France forward Kylian Mbappe and ex-defenders Gerald Pique and Rio Ferdinand as its partners, denies the charges.
“We are aware of the claims made by the Gambling Commission and have instructed our UK counsel to challenge them,” said a spokesperson for Sorare in a statement.
“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. We cannot comment further whilst legal proceedings are under way.”
Sorare was founded by Nicolas Julia and Adrien Montfort six years ago in Paris and describes itself as a reinvention of fantasy football games. Players who sign up to the site are able to create their own “football club” with cards that take the form of tradable non-fungible tokens.
The NFTs can be traded on the platform and Sorare gives out prizes including cash, VIP tickets and signed football kits to successful players.
Back in October 2021, the Gambling Commission indicated it was investigating whether or not Sorare should be classed as a gambling product.
And the regulator has now opted to charge Sorare, which also has partnerships in place with La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A and MLS, as well as the NBA, NBPA, MLB and MLBPA.
“Sorare is charged with providing facilities for gambling without holding an operating licence contrary to section 33(1), (4), and section 36(3), (3A) of the Gambling Act 2005 (opens in new tab),” said the Gambling Commission. “The Commission will not be commenting further on the case until its conclusion.”
Lionel Messi and Serena Williams are among the sports stars to have invested in or advised Sorare, which is valued in excess of $4 billion by SoftBank, Accel, and Benchmark. The site has signed up more than three million global users to date.
