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The Sporting Events Bill (“the Bill”), introduced to the House of Lords on 14 May 2026, offers a common legislative framework for future major sporting events. While in the past, Parliament passed event-specific legislation such as the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Act 2020 to plug any necessary legislative gaps, the Bill establishes an event-agnostic legislative framework that will govern major sporting events hosted by the UK going forward. This would likely include the upcoming men’s UEFA EURO 2028 football tournament, and, if the UK’s bid for it is successful, the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2035.
This new framework aims to ensure that the UK remains competitive when entering bid processes for hosting rights for major international sporting events. The goal is to make it clear that the UK is able to fulfil any required commitments to sporting event owners during the bidding process (for example, regarding protections in place for the event), and to do so efficiently without the uncertain and cumbersome process associated with passing bespoke primary legislation.
The framework will apply to events held wholly or partly in the UK on an irregular basis which are of significant international interest, and would bring social or economic benefits to the whole or part of the UK, and to events likely to facilitate holding such events (clause 3 of the Bill). For example, while UEFA European Championships, FIFA Football World Cups and Rugby World Cups may be in scope, events that regularly take place in the UK such as the Wimbledon Championships or FA Cup Final are not in scope of the Bill.
The Bill includes provisions in respect of the following issues:
| Ticket touting (clauses 5-7 and Schedule 1) | Under the Bill, it is a criminal offence to sell, offer to sell, expose for sale, or advertise an event ticket without authorisation in a public place, in the course of a business, or to make a profit. |
| Advertising in restricted areas (clauses 8-10 and Schedule 2) | Under the Bill, it is a criminal offence to carry out an advertising activity in a restricted advertising zone during a specified period, or to arrange or permit for this to be done. An advertising activity is anything done to promote a product, service or business to members of the public who are in a restricted advertising zone or watching or listening to a broadcast of the event. |
| Trading in restricted areas (clauses 11-13 and Schedule 3) | The Bill sets out a criminal offence which partially mirrors the ‘advertising in restricted areas’ offence in respect of trading. Trading activities include (i) selling or offering or exposing a product for sale, (ii) providing or offering to provide a service or providing entertainment for gain or reward, and (iii) appealing for money or other property (except begging). |
| Unauthorised association with the event (clauses 14-16 and Schedule 4) | The Bill prohibits a person acting in the course of a business from engaging in the unauthorised use of a representation (of any kind) in a manner likely to suggest to the public an association between the sporting event and goods or services (or a person providing them) during the specified period. |
Those guilty of the ticket touting and advertising and trading in restricted areas provisions can be fined, and breach of the unauthorised association with the event provision is treated as an infringement of a property right, with various court remedies available.
The Bill also includes provisions to facilitate transport arrangements for events (clause 17 and Schedule 5) and to enable national authorities to provide financial assistance to support sporting events (clause 25).
The Bill has been drafted with built-in flexibility to accommodate the varied requirements of the different sporting events to which it will apply.
Although the Bill offers a framework for issues affecting a broad range of sports, there is an expectation that an appropriate national authority and/or the Secretary of State will introduce regulations applying one or more of the Bill’s provisions to specific sporting events within its scope. Many parts of the provisions are defined by reference to these event-specific regulations, such as the location of the restricted advertising and trading zones in the provisions governing advertising and trading in restricted areas.
There are also various carve-outs and exceptions, and the relevant authorities are empowered to specify further ones by regulation. Authorisations can be granted to ensure that, for example, event sponsors can carry out advertising or trading within a restricted zone.
The Bill was debated during its second reading in the House of Lords on 3 June 2026. We will continue to monitor its progress through Parliament and keep clients informed on key updates.
It is worth noting that there is a separate push to make it illegal for tickets to concerts, theatre, comedy, sport and other live events to be resold for more than their original cost. On 19 November 2025, the government published its response to its consultation on the resale of live events tickets, and proposed a draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill in the King’s Speech on 13 May 2026.
Those in any way involved with major sporting events, including organisers, sponsors and commercial partners, should consider how they will be affected and take proactive steps to ensure they are prepared once the Bill is ready to come into effect.
Please reach out to Ella Ditri or Mike Glover-Smith for support on this.
Ella advises clients at the pre-action phase and throughout all stages of the litigation process. As well as complex High Court litigation, she has experience resolving disputes through settlement negotiations.
Ella acts for clients across a broad range of sectors, including technology, media and entertainment and financial services. She has particular experience handling disputes involving breach of contract claims and contractual interpretation.
Ella read History at the University of Oxford and graduated with first class honours in 2019. She trained at Clifford Chance, where she qualified into their Litigation & Dispute Resolution team in 2024. Ella joined Harbottle & Lewis in 2026.
Ella is a member of the Next Generation Media Lawyers.
Mike supports clients including teams, athletes, agents and brands, with a particular focus on motorsports and football. He advises on a broad range of commercial, intellectual property and sporting matters including high-value sponsorships and commercial endorsements, merchandise and licensing matters, fan engagement initiatives and media rights.
Mike joined the firm from Atlassian Williams Racing where he advised the team on a broad range of sports, commercial and IP matters. Prior to this he trained at Taylor Wessing, completing a secondment to Amazon before qualifying as an associate.
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