Stake.uk.com will cease from next month after the withdrawal of its UK licence

Everton are to be written to by the Gambling Commission warning them of the risks of promoting unlawful gambling sites. The Blues’ main shirt sponsors Stake will see its UK website shut down from next month.

The Australian bookmaker is to leave the UK market after the withdrawal of its UK gambling licence and close its UK website. It comes after the Gambling Commission launched an “investigation into a widely viewed video displaying the Stake-branded logo, which was distributed on a social media platform and featured an adult actress outside Nottingham Trent University”.

Everton entered into a ‘club record’ sponsorship agreement with Stake.com in June 2022, with the deal believed to run beyond next season and up to but not including the 2026/27 campaign. Reports at the time pegged the value of the deal at some £10million per year.

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The deal that the Blues have in place is with Stake.com – with sources telling the ECHO that the focus of the sponsorship is not the UK market, with Stake.com unavailable in the UK. It is the Stake.com logo that appears on Everton shirts, not the white-label UK website, Stake.uk.com, which is the site to be closed down.

The Gambling Commission, which is to write to two other football clubs with the same warning, stated: “The Commission will seek assurance from the clubs that they have carried out due diligence on their white label partners and that consumers in Great Britain cannot transact with the unlicensed sites.

“Clubs will be asked to demonstrate that they have assurance that any steps to geo-block the sites are effective, recognising that some blocking can be easily by-passed by use of tools such as a Virtual Private Network.

“Clubs will be expected to carry out sufficient due diligence to assure the Commission that consumers cannot transact with the sites from Great Britain by any means. The Commission will also be taking steps to independently verify effective measures are in place.

“The letter will warn that club officers may be liable to prosecution and, if convicted, face a fine, imprisonment or both if they promote unlicensed gambling businesses that transact with consumers in Great Britain.”

Back in 2023, Premier League clubs collectively agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of clubs’ matchday shirts. At present there are 10 betting firms that have front-of-shirt visibility through sponsorship. The changes will come into effect from the start of the 2026/27 season.

In a statement, Stake.com commented: “Stake has made a strategic decision in mutual agreement with TGP Europe (the operators of the site) to exit white-label agreements and focus on securing local licenses through our in-house platform and operations, building upon our growth in key regulated markets such as our recent expansions into Italy and Brazil.”

Everton declined to comment officially on the matter when contacted by the ECHO, but the club has previously not promoted the UK website – run by a third party to Stake – through its partnership. W

While the ECHO understands the Blues have yet to receive any contact from the Gambling Commission, the club has always stated it has maintained its commitment to operating within the guidelines set out when it came to relationships with gambling partners, and expressing willingness to provide assurances to the Gambling Commission over what they seek.