Everton have been warned over their front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with Stake after the betting firm said it will cease to operate in the UK.

The UK Gambling Commission confirmed on Wednesday that it will be writing to Everton, alongside two other football clubs with unlicensed sponsors, to warn them of the risks of the promotion of unlawful gambling sites.

The letter will also warn that “club officers will be liable to prosecution and, if convicted, face a fine, imprisonment or both” if they promote an unlicensed gambling business.

Everton declined to comment on the news but the club maintain that they have never promoted Stake’s UK platform as part of the partnership.

TGP Europe Limited (TGP), who operate the site, has stated they will be shutting it down next month, per the Gambling Commission. Users in the UK are already finding their access restricted to the stake.com domain, with the message, “Sorry, Stake.com is not available in the United Kingdom. Due to our gaming license, Stake.com is unable to accept players who are located within your country” blocking entry.

The UK Gambling Commission statement said: “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.”

Everton announced the shirt sponsorship deal with Stake in June 2022, with the agreement worth in excess of £10million per season. The casino and sports betting platform then took over as the club’s main shirt sponsor at the start of the 2022-23 season. While no other specifics were given at the time of the announcement, such deals usually contain break clauses.

The agreement was the highest front-of-shirt sponsorship deal in Everton’s history. The Merseyside club ended their agreement with Cazoo to secure a more lucrative partnership with Stake.

Earlier this month, Stake was the subject of an investigation launched by the UK’s Gambling Commission. The investigation was into a video distributed widely on social media that displayed Stake’s logo. The video featured an adult entertainment actress outside of Nottingham Trent University.

The Friedkin Group, who completed its takeover of Everton in December,  will be looking to increase revenues and is already targetting a new naming rights deal for the new Everton Stadium, which is due to become the club’s home next season.

When approached for comment by The Athletic, a Stake spokesperson said: “Stake has made a strategic decision in mutual agreement with TGP Europe 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 face local rivals Liverpool in the final Merseyside Derby to be played at Goodison Park on Wednesday.

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