8Xbet Backs Seven Premier League Clubs, and Its Curaçao License Entry Is Past Its Date

8Xbet, the Asian-facing bookmaker that football magazine Josimar counts as a sponsor of seven Premier League clubs, is listed on the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) register with a license date that has passed and nothing in the status column. Josimar says records leaked from the same regulator now reveal who owns the brand. Its September 25 report asks whether “Ryan Li”, the founder named in club press releases, is “really the man behind 8Xbet, or just a front.”

The report carries the bylines of Philippe Auclair and four colleagues, and it is listed among the coverage of Casino Secrets, the files Berlin-based researcher Lilith Wittmann says she took from the regulator in a breach of its online portal. The CGA told the Guardian it could not answer questions about an “ongoing, complex forensic matter.”

The Founder in the Press Releases

8Xbet arrived in English football in July 2022, when Manchester City named it the club’s Official Betting Partner in Asia. City’s release said the brand was founded in 2018 and was “licensed and regulated in Great Britain by the Gambling Commission,” and it quoted “Ryan Li, Founder of 8Xbet.” Josimar describes a multi-million deal and says the UK domain came through TGP Europe, an Isle of Man white-label provider.

The name is what caught the magazine’s eye. Asian-facing unlicensed operators usually hide their owners, Josimar wrote, “even employing models and actors to impersonate them in official and public events.” The same credit was still in use this year. Newcastle United’s January 31 announcement quotes Ryan Li as founder and says 8Xbet’s services “will only be accessible to those living within Asia and the countries in which they operate.”

Josimar calls 8Xbet “the Premier League’s most visible illegal betting sponsor.” On September 1 it listed Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Coventry, Ipswich, Newcastle and Sunderland as current partners. City AM counted five of those clubs, which would make 8Xbet nearly half of the 11 Premier League clubs that Entain says have deals with operators holding no British license.

978 Tech’s Register Entry Has No Status

The public paperwork tells its own story. Josimar says 8Xbet’s Curaçao license is held by 978 Tech N.V., and the CGA’s September 21 license register still lists that company at entry 100 of 665. Its license was issued on February 22, 2026 and expires on August 22, 2026. The status column beside it is empty, while the rows above and below, carrying the same dates, read “Assessment in progress.”

The company trail is just as odd. Josimar reported that the island’s company registry lists 978 Tech’s registration as “discontinued” as of July 24, 2026. 8Xbet’s own website now says the brand is owned by Aplus Limited, a company registered in the Marshall Islands, and that name doesn’t appear anywhere in the September 21 register.

A blank cell isn’t proof that an operator is unlicensed. The CGA’s enforcement register from mid-September, which records revoked licenses, does not list 978 Tech either. Josimar said it approached 8Xbet for comment for its September 1 report.

Stake and BC.Game Are in the Files Too

8Xbet isn’t the only football sponsor in the leak. The Guardian reports that the files cover Stake, which it describes as Everton’s sponsor, and BC.Game, which it calls Leicester City’s, and says it approached both for comment. Josimar’s September 1 report found that this year’s winners of the Champions League, La Liga, Ligue 1, the Premier League, Serie A and the Scottish top flight all have, or recently had, Curaçao-licensed bookmakers as partners.

On September 21, 30 days after the expiry date printed beside it, 978 Tech N.V. was still on the CGA’s public register with nothing in the status column. 8Xbet’s own website names a different company as the brand’s owner.

UK Gambling Commission Enforcement and White-Label Vulnerabilities

While 8Xbet originally maintained access to the British market via a white-label arrangement with Isle of Man-based provider TGP Europe Limited, regulatory intervention by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) fundamentally altered that pipeline. In May 2025, TGP Europe surrendered its UKGC operating license following a £3.3 million regulatory penalty for severe customer interaction and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) failures.

Under Section 330 of the Gambling Act 2005, promoting or advertising an unlicensed gambling operator to consumers in Great Britain constitutes a regulatory offense. Following TGP Europe’s license surrender, the UKGC issued formal warning letters to executive officers at five Premier League clubs, cautioning that facilitating pitchside exposure or geofenced promotions for non-UKGC licensed entities risks triggering criminal prosecution if those platforms remain accessible to UK residents.

Sleeves and Pitchside Boards Stayed Open

This is the first season since Premier League clubs took gambling brands off the front of their matchday shirts, a step they agreed in April 2023. The agreement left shirt sleeves and advertising boards alone, and that’s where regional partners turn up. Newcastle’s deal gives 8Xbet matchday LED advertising around the pitch.

The UK regulator has already gone after the white-label route. TGP Europe surrendered its license in May 2025 after the Gambling Commission told it to pay a £3.3 million penalty, and the regulator warned five clubs that their officers could face prosecution for promoting unlicensed sites that take British customers. John Pierce, the Commission’s head of enforcement, said: “This case involves a gambling company that was unwilling or unable to meet the regulatory standards we expect from our licensees.” Josimar had reported that January that 8Xbet had withdrawn from the UK market.

None of this means a club broke the law. A UK government consultation says such deals are “not unlawful, provided the unlicensed operators’ services are inaccessible to consumers in Great Britain.” Ministers want to ban them from August 2027, and estimate that about 40% of Premier League clubs had one in the 2025/26 season.