New Delhi: Following an investigation into an advertisement depicting porn actress Bonnie Blue, a front-of-shirt sponsor of the Everton football team is relinquishing its license in the United Kingdom. With Stake’s logo displayed, she claimed to have been there “as promised” to “sleep with 180 barely-legal 18 year olds” in the social media video that was taken outside Nottingham Trent University. In response to the advertisement’s use of sexual content to encourage gambling among youth, campaigners urged the culture secretary to take action.
The Gambling Commission stated that it will send Everton a letter alerting it to its obligations to make sure that the unlicensed gambling websites advertised on jerseys are inaccessible from the United Kingdom. Due to the fact that both sites are unlicensed in the United Kingdom, the regulator is also writing to Nottingham Forest, who are sponsored by Kaiyun, and Leicester City, who have an agreement with BC.Game.
Following the Gambling Commission’s inquiry, the Australian online gambling company Stake made the decision to leave the United Kingdom. Everton have no intention of replacing Stake as the primary jersey sponsor. Due to the English Premier League’s large international viewership, clubs regularly sign sponsorship agreements with companies based outside of the UK.
Everton sponsor leaves UK after porn ad probe
Gambling site Stake will leave the UK as a regulator investigation continues. pic.twitter.com/ck2X2S0OPg
— Inspyre Sport (@InspyreSport) February 13, 2025
What’s going wrong for Stake?
Stake bill themselves as the “worlds leading cryptocurrency casino and sportsbook” and has its branding on Everton football shirts. Customers can wager on virtual casino games or sports, however Bitcoin and other digital currencies are not available to GB consumers.
the organisation is operated under license by TGP Europe, an Isle of Man-based company, using a “white label” arrangement that is widely employed by international gambling companies looking to enter the UK market without having to make a substantial upfront investment in infrastructure and development. According to the Gambling Commission, Stake’s GB company will cease accepting new members and shut down completely on March 11.
In a statement, Stake stated that they had “made a strategic decision in mutual agreement with TGP Europe to exit white-label agreements and focus on securing local licences through our in-house platform and operations, building upon our growth in key regulated markets such as our recent expansions into Italy and Brazil.”
The clubs will be warned by the regulator that if their officers are found to have promoted “unlawful gambling websites,” they may be imprisoned for up to 51 weeks and subject to infinite fines.
“They have ‘carried out due diligence on their white label partners and that consumers in Great Britain cannot transact with the unlicensed sites,’” it stated, and wants the clubs to guarantee this.
In order to prevent access to unauthorized websites, the clubs may request that the websites restrict users from the UK, even those who use a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which can conceal the country from which a user is accessing the internet. Customers who still need their money after a gaming business has closed can get in touch with them through the operator’s website, it was said.
Premier League clubs take a massive step
By the end of the 2025/2026 season, Premier League clubs have decided to stop using gambling companies as their primary shirt sponsors. However, they will continue to accept gambling advertisements on other surfaces, like shirt sleeves and digital advertising hoardings. The extensive usage of gambling companies to sponsor football teams has drawn more attention from the authorities and activists.
According to research from 2024, there were nearly three times as many betting advertisements on the first weekend of the Premier League season as there were the previous year. Tony Kelly, a former Stoke City player, is among the campaigners who have issued warnings about the “dark side” of sports betting, which includes gambling addiction.
One of Everton’s main sponsor, Stake, leaves the UK after a contentious inquiry over pornographic ads, which hurts the team’s sponsorship situation. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
