Fanatics Philippines: An Office, Not a Betting Market

Fanatics Sportsbook is not legal in the Philippines, but this is the one country on this site where "Fanatics" and "Philippines" already share a real, dated news story that has nothing to do with bettors. In June 2025, Fanatics Betting and Gaming opened an office in Taguig City through a partnership with Claymore Solutions, a Philippine firm PAGCOR accredits to staff foreign gaming operators. That office supports the US-facing sportsbook from the back end. It does not, and legally cannot, open a front door for a Philippine bettor.

Legal status in Philippines

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) licenses domestic sports betting tied to a physical Philippine site, and separately accredits "Special Class BPOs" (SCBPOs) — service firms that support operators licensed somewhere else, under the Offshore Gaming Regulatory Manual. An SCBPO can run HR, payroll, recruiting, and office space for a foreign brand; it cannot take a bet, handle gaming funds, or solicit a Philippine customer, and PAGCOR requires its workforce to run 90-95% Filipino. Claymore Solutions holds that SCBPO accreditation, and in June 2025 it opened a dedicated Fanatics Betting and Gaming office in Taguig City, part of a wider push PAGCOR has backed publicly since the 2024-2025 shutdown of the old POGO licensing regime displaced more than 40,000 gaming-sector workers. That arrangement staffs the sportsbook; it does not license it to take Philippine customers. Fanatics holds no PAGCOR sports-betting license of any kind, and the offshore-gaming category a cross-border sportsbook would otherwise fall into was banned outright once Executive Order 74 took effect December 31, 2024, then written into permanent statute by the Anti-POGO Act of 2025 (Republic Act 12312), signed October 23, 2025, which repeals the 2016 law that had legalized and taxed offshore gaming and reclassifies it as unlawful activity under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. First-time violators face six to eight years in prison and fines up to PHP15 million.

State gambling authority: Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) — licenses domestic sportsbooks tied to physical sites and separately accredits Special Class BPOs like Claymore Solutions to staff foreign operators. Fanatics holds the second kind of relationship, not the first, and the Anti-POGO Act of 2025 (RA 12312) bars the betting product outright regardless.

Fanatics Sportsbook is not legal in the Philippines, but anyone searching this pairing is going to run into a real news story first: Fanatics Betting and Gaming actually opened an office in the Philippines in June 2025. That fact is true, and it is also not an answer to the legal question. The office staffs the US sportsbook from the back end. It does nothing for a Philippine resident who wants to place a bet.

Is Fanatics Legal in the Philippines? The Office Doesn't Count

In June 2025, Fanatics Betting and Gaming opened a dedicated office in Taguig City through a partnership with Claymore Solutions, a Philippine firm the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) accredits as a Special Class BPO (SCBPO). The arrangement made trade press in gambling-industry outlets as an economic story — jobs created, not bettors onboarded. That distinction is the whole legal answer here: PAGCOR built the SCBPO category specifically to separate Philippine employment from Philippine betting access.

What a Special Class BPO Is Actually Allowed to Do

PAGCOR's Offshore Gaming Regulatory Manual defines an SCBPO as a Philippine-based service company that supports a gaming operator licensed somewhere else — HR, payroll, recruiting, serviced office space — while keeping its workforce 90 to 95 percent Filipino. What it explicitly cannot do is take a bet, handle gaming funds, or solicit a Philippine customer. Claymore Solutions holds that accreditation and acts as an employer of record for brands like Fanatics; it is not a betting license, and PAGCOR has been clear that it does not function like one.

Why this category exists: PAGCOR created the SCBPO pathway to absorb some of the more than 40,000 gaming-sector jobs lost when the old Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) licensing regime was wound down across 2024 and 2025. Fanatics-via- Claymore is one example of that replacement employment, not an exception carved into the betting ban.

The Betting Ban Is a Separate, Harder Wall

Set the Taguig office aside, and Fanatics Sportsbook sits exactly where every other unlicensed offshore book sits in the Philippines today. Executive Order 74 banned Philippine offshore gaming operators and internet gaming licensees effective December 31, 2024. The Anti-POGO Act of 2025 (Republic Act 12312), signed October 23, 2025, turned that ban into permanent law — repealing the 2016 statute that had legalized and taxed offshore gaming, canceling every remaining license, and reclassifying offshore gaming as unlawful activity under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. First-time violators face six to eight years in prison and fines from PHP300,000 to PHP15 million. None of that changed when Claymore opened its doors to Fanatics staff six months earlier.

Is Fanatics Legit? The Claymore Deal Actually Supports That

Yes, as a company. Fanatics Betting and Gaming runs a real, state-licensed US sportsbook built on PointsBet's acquired licenses, and the Claymore arrangement is a publicly reported, PAGCOR-sanctioned staffing deal rather than something murkier. A legitimate company can still be legally barred from a specific market — that is exactly the position Fanatics is in here.

Is It Safe to Try Fanatics From the Philippines Anyway?

No regulator stands behind that connection. Fanatics geofences its sportsbook to its licensed US states, not Philippine ones, and RA 12312 specifically criminalizes offshore gaming access rather than just discouraging it. The Taguig office doesn't change the access question at all — it supports a US product with Philippine labor, which is a different thing entirely from a Philippine betting product with Philippine customers.

Who It Fits

As an employer, Fanatics already fits Philippine workers hired through Claymore Solutions. As a sportsbook, it fits no one in the Philippines, and the Anti-POGO Act makes that a criminal-exposure question rather than just a missing-app one. Betting, wherever it is actually legal, should stay entertainment spending, never a plan for income.

Fanatics Sportsbook Philippines — Frequently Asked Questions

Is Fanatics Sportsbook legal in the Philippines?

No. Fanatics holds no PAGCOR sports-betting license, and the offshore-gaming category a cross-border sportsbook falls into has been banned since Executive Order 74 took effect December 31, 2024, with the Anti-POGO Act of 2025 (RA 12312) turning that ban into permanent statute on October 23, 2025. A Philippine office tied to Fanatics exists, but it staffs the US business — it does not open the sportsbook to Philippine bettors.

Wait — does Fanatics actually have an office in the Philippines?

Yes, and it is real, reported news, not a rumor. In June 2025, Fanatics Betting and Gaming opened a dedicated office in Taguig City through a partnership with Claymore Solutions, a PAGCOR-accredited Special Class BPO. Claymore handles HR, payroll, recruiting, and serviced office space for licensed foreign gaming brands — an employer-of-record arrangement, not a betting license.

Can a Philippine resident use that office to place a bet?

No. PAGCOR's Special Class BPO accreditation specifically bars firms like Claymore from taking bets, handling gaming funds, or soliciting Philippine customers — their staff keep roughly 90-95% Filipino, but the work is back-office support for a brand licensed and operating somewhere else. The Taguig office supports Fanatics' US sportsbook operations; it has no customer-facing product for Philippine bettors to reach.

Is Fanatics legit, given it already employs people in the Philippines?

As a company, yes — Fanatics Betting and Gaming runs a real, state-licensed US sportsbook built on PointsBet's acquired licenses, and the Claymore partnership is a legitimate, PAGCOR-sanctioned staffing deal, not a gray-market shortcut. None of that converts into a Philippine betting license, though. Legitimacy as an employer and legality as a bookmaker are two separate questions, and the Philippines answers only the first one yes.

Is it safe to try reaching Fanatics Sportsbook from the Philippines anyway?

No regulator backs that connection. Fanatics geofences its sportsbook to its licensed US states, not Philippine ones, and the Anti-POGO Act of 2025 criminalizes offshore gaming access rather than merely discouraging it — six to eight years in prison and fines up to PHP15 million for a first offense. The Taguig office being real does not change that; it is staffed to support the US product, not to serve Philippine accounts.

Why would PAGCOR allow a sportsbook brand to open an office if it bans the sportsbook itself?

Because the two are regulated under completely different rules. PAGCOR created the Special Class BPO pathway to replace the jobs lost when the old POGO licensing regime shut down across 2024-2025 — the goal is Philippine employment, not Philippine betting access. A firm like Claymore can legally employ Filipino staff to support a brand like Fanatics precisely because that staff never touches a bet or a Philippine customer's money.

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