Sorare Tells Court It Is Not Guilty Of Illegal Gambling Charges

October 7, 2024
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Fantasy sports website Sorare has pled not guilty to three charges of providing illegal gambling in the UK, with a trial against the Gambling Commission set for next year.
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Fantasy sports website Sorare has pled not guilty to three charges of providing illegal gambling in the UK, with a trial against the Gambling Commission set for next year.

In a hearing at the Birmingham Magistrates Court on the morning of Friday October 4, lawyers for Sorare entered a plea of not guilty for three separate charges related to offering online gambling in the UK without a licence.

A trial has been scheduled by District Judge David Murray for June 16, 2025.

Sorare’s representation made it clear that the operator would argue that its services do not constitute gambling. 

The company's games “are better described as a prize competition”, said lawyer Kwaku Awuku-Asabre, acting for the defence.

Sorare offers a blockchain-linked version of fantasy sports. Players purchase non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that represent specific athletes and then receive points based on how they perform in real matches.

Prizes, including real money, are awarded to players based on how their team of NFT sports stars fare in competition with other users.

The link between these NFT “cards” and the Ethereum blockchain means that they can be bought and sold outside the game, via cryptocurrency.

At the hearing on Friday, the Gambling Commission revealed little about its full case, but indicated that it relied on evidence collected by accessing Sorare’s websites and that the offences are alleged to have taken place between February 2022 and April 2024.

“They don’t have a licence and say they don’t need one,” summarised Philip Kolvin KC, acting for the regulator.

Kolvin also hinted that a key issue in the trial will be to answer whether, in order for a product to be defined as gambling money needs to be directly wagered or if a gambling licence is still needed if money is instead “loaded” onto a platform beforehand.

Sorare was founded and is headquartered in Paris. The company was investigated by French regulator ANJ in 2022 over concerns that it may have been offering illegal gambling in France, before reaching a deal with the regulator to offer more free access to its games.

In separate news on Friday, fellow fantasy sports operator DraftKings suddenly pulled its product from the UK market.

Players were sent messages announcing that the service was ending with immediate effect, although the website would remain online for players to make withdrawals.

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