- Enforcing jurisdiction
- United Kingdom · Geography does not establish applicable law.
- Confirmed applicable legislation
- No confirmed legal basis recorded.
- Privacy topics
SportsDirect.com Retail Limited – €81,900 Fine (United Kingdom, 2021)
Privacy enforcement record
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SportsDirect.com Retail Limited was fined for sending a massive number of marketing emails without proper consent. Many customers complained about receiving unwanted messages, which shows the importance of following rules about marketing communications. This case serves as a warning for businesses to keep track of customer preferences.
What happened
SportsDirect sent over 2.5 million marketing emails without valid consent from recipients.
Who was affected
Customers who received unsolicited marketing emails from SportsDirect were affected by this issue.
What the authority found
The Information Commissioner's Office found that SportsDirect violated privacy regulations by failing to demonstrate valid consent for their marketing emails.
Why this matters
This ruling highlights the need for companies to maintain accurate records of customer consent for marketing communications. Businesses should review their marketing practices to ensure compliance with privacy laws.
Source checks
Linked-source text retrieved.
Automated check recorded — 10 March 2026.
Processing notes: articles corrected, national law identified.
Retrieved text may be a secondary summary or an announcement. These automated statuses do not establish that the original decision was read or that the record received an independent legal review. How we check sources
SportsDirect.com Retail Limited ('SportsDirect') is a sports retailer in the UK. It was the subject of various complaints via the UK DPA's online reporting tool in relation to unsolicited communications between December 2019 and February 2020. The ICO started an investigation on the basis of these complaints. SportsDirect outlined that the personal data it used for direct marketing was obtained directly from customers after having given their consent. SportsDirect considered the direct marketing sent to individuals who complained to be a "re-engagement campaign". They claimed that these individuals had opted in to receiving marketing emails (and didn't unsubscribe). The emails sent amounted to a total of 459,882,124 emails, 2,565,513 of which were received as part of the "re-engagement campaign". SportsDirect claimed to rely on a soft opt-in for 7 of the 12 complainants, and stated that it collected consent directly from 3 others. It did not have a record of having sent marketing to 1 complaints and had recently erased the data of another shortly after they complained. During the investigation, the ICO uncovered that SportsDirect continued to send messages to customers signed up to a specific scheme even after the scheme had ended. SportsDirect claimed this to be on the basis of legitimate interest for the ex-members of the scheme. Throughout the investigation, SportsDirect cited the challenges it faced to gather the information requested by the ICO. The ICO responded that some of the information, such as legal bases should be readily available to data controllers. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) held that SportsDirect infringed Regulation 22 of Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (hereafter PECR). 2,565,513 direct market emails sent by SportsDirect were received by subscribers. However, SportsDirect was unable to demonstrate evidence that it had valid consent to send these marketing emails. The ICO did not consider
Related Enforcement Actions (0)
No other enforcement actions found for SportsDirect.com Retail Limited in UK
This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
Fine Date
13 September 2021
Authority
Information Commissioner's Office
Fine Amount
€81,900
70,000 GBP
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. SportsDirect.com Retail Limited - United Kingdom (2021). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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