The UK Gambling Commission has charged online fantasy sports game Sorare with providing unlicensed gambling services.
The French company is due to appear in court on October 4. The UK Gambling Commission doesn’t often level charges against companies and this particular case is three years in the making. Since its conception in 2005, the commission has only leveled charges against one other entity, although it did launch an investigation into four politicians earlier this year.
“Football-themed website Sorare.com is due to appear in court next week charged with providing unlicensed gambling facilities to consumers in Britain,” reads the short announcement from the commission, stating that it will not be commenting on the case further.
Sorare denies the charges and plans to challenge them in court. When asked for comment, a Sorare spokesperson told Readwrite: “We are aware of the claims made by the Gambling Commission and have instructed our UK counsel to challenge them. 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 underway.”
What is Sorare?
Sorare’s denial of the claims is centered around what it claims is the UK Gambling Commission’s misunderstanding what the platform does. The company maintains that it is an online fantasy sports and collectibles game.
It combines a fantasy game with digital cards in the form of NFTs and is made up of more than 300 teams, clubs, and organizations from around the world, including the Premier League, La Liga, NBA, MLB and Serie A. Players can compete with the fantasy team they assemble using the cards with athlete performance based on their real-world activity that week. Users can also buy and sell athlete cards using Ether.
Sorare has over five million users across 180 countries, as well as backing from investors like SoftBank, Accel, and Benchmark. It has also collaborated with well-known athletes like Serena Williams, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Rio Ferdinand as investors, ambassadors, and advisors to gain traction in the world of sports.
On The Sorare Ramble podcast, it was reported that Sorare faced similar charges in France. The case was resolved before reaching court.
Featured image: Sorare
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