Everton have renewed their controversial sponsorship agreement with Stake.com… just months after the Gambling Commission warned them of the potential criminal charges relating to the promotion of illegal betting sites.
The Premier League club has circumnavigated the ban on gambling firms sponsoring the front of their shirts by agreeing a new deal, which will see the Stake.com branding appear on their shirt sleeves instead.
The Australian firm, which has courted controversy for its risque social media activity, relinquished its UK operating licence in March 2025 after the Gambling Commission ordered the white label provider TGP Europe to stop taking new player registrations.
The Final Straw
Everton and Stake have been partners for the past four seasons.
In 2023, all Premier League clubs voluntarily agreed to stop having betting firms on the front of their shirts for fear that gambling was being promoted to children and vulnerable adults.
That kicks in for the 2026/27 season, which gets underway this August, so clubs were allowed to continue with their present deals until the end of the previous campaign.
However, when Stake.com lost their UK licence in March 2025, Everton found themselves in a position in which they were, effectively, promoting illegal gambling.
Stake had landed themselves in hot water with the regulator on numerous occasions over social media posts that featured adult content, which – while not created by Stake – had their watermark on.
Early in 2025, they shared a video featuring an adult film star, which proved to be the final straw for the Gambling Commission.
After demanding that TGP Europe take action, the white label operator agreed to sever ties with Stake. A spokesperson for Stake later commented 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.’
Everton, meanwhile, showed no interest in ending their association with Stake, despite the controversy surrounding the now unlicensed operator.
However, it has been reported by The Guardian that the club asked for all its branding to be removed from a Stake promotion that promised a $10 free bet to those who wagered at last $5,000 in the prior seven days.
Liable to Prosecution
The decision on the part of the Toffees to renew their partnership with Stake is unlikely to go down well with the regulator.
Last year, the Gambling Commission wrote to Everton and two other Premier League clubs – Nottingham Forest and Leicester City – to warn them about the ‘risks of promoting unlawful gambling websites.’
The regulator has previously sought assurances that the clubs named had performed the necessary due diligence on the brands, ensuring that UK based punters couldn’t access them via a VPN or another workaround.
Most pertinently, if the clubs were found to be promoting unlicensed gambling brands that were accessible to their fans, their senior members of staff could be individually liable to prosecution.
The available sanctions available in these cases include unlimited fines and prison sentences of up to a year in length – suggesting that Everton, by renewing their Stake deal, are taking something of a gamble both personally, in terms of their decision-makers, and collectively.
Nottingham Forest had an agreement in place with Kaiyun and Leicester with BC.Game, both of whom are also unlicensed in the UK. At the time of writing, neither club had yet to agree a new sponsor for the 2026/27 season, while Everton have called upon financial trading site CMC Markets.
It has been reported that CMC Markets will pay around 30% more than Stake did to sponsor the front of Everton’s shirt, while Stake’s new shirt sleeve contract is also reportedly 30% more than they were paying previously.
Commenting on the ‘groundbreaking’ shirt sleeve agreement, Everton’s president of business operations Andrew Middleton said:
“Stake has been a major supporter of Everton over the past four seasons and this agreement reflects both the strength of our relationship and the continued growth of Everton’s commercial partnership portfolio.
“We are pleased to see our relationship with Stake evolve and look forward to continuing to work together across the coming seasons.”
Perhaps most tellingly, the press statement is signed off with the revelation that ‘Everton and Stake will continue to ensure all partnership activity is delivered responsibly and in full compliance with relevant regulations, industry standards and marketing requirements.’
It is not known if the Stake.com branding will continue to be displayed at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium or at their training ground complex.