Consumers are being advised that Stake.uk.com will no longer be a licensed website from next month.
TGP Europe Limited (TGP), who operate the site as part of a white-label arrangement, have stated they will be shutting the site.
The move follows the launch of a Commission 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.
TGP has previously been the subject of enforcement action and after a meeting with the Commission have stated they will immediately stop accepting new registrations to the Stake.uk.com platform and remove redirection links from the main Stake website. Final shutdown of the Great Britain site will take place by 11 March 2025.
Stake are currently front of shirt sponsor of English Premier League Football Club Everton.
The Commission will be writing to Everton – along with two other football clubs with unlicensed sponsors - warning of the risks of promoting unlawful gambling websites.
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.
You would imagine that they are now in breach of contract if they are no longer lawful.
I would sooner play out the season without a sponsor on the shirt.
Its just another strand of how poorly we have been run and hopefully we can move forward with more suitable sponsorship deals under the new owners.
Yeah hopefully this is a way to bin them off early. Would actually be quite nice to finish at Goodison with a sponsorless shirt if that's what the outcome was.
It was needs must for the club at the time with Stake as a sponsor, but I can’t wait until we can leave gambling sponsors behind across all sport, not just our club. I hated the idea of them as a sponsor and still do.
As far as I am concerned, the entire industry should be run into the ground. They could not care less about people’s welfare and how it ruins countless lives and families.
So many adverts, promotions and sponsorships for an industry that does no good, only damages, all for the sake of the few that want some entertainment. I know a lot of people that have been badly affected by this addiction and feel strongly that Government should be doing far more to eradicate it from society, or at least minimise the damage that it can do.
I don't think them not being registered in the UK makes much of a difference, there are plenty of other gambling sponsors that don't have a UK presence. It's a hugely murky world.
Some great journalism by Philippe Auclair (and others) has long been doing the rounds. Here's the latest:
The PL ban on gambling companies doesn't come in till 26/7 but you would think with that on the horizon and the new stadium, next season would be a good time to try and get a reasonably decent multi year deal done.
In a world full of adversity, we must still dare to dream.
