English Premier League clubs warned over promoting illegal gambling sites in Britain
12/02/2025 15:21
By Aby Jose Koilparambil and Yadarisa Shabong
Feb 12 (Reuters) - Britain's gambling regulator said on
Wednesday it would write to three Premier League soccer clubs -
Everton, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City - warning them of
the risks associated with promoting illegal gambling websites on
their shirts.
The UK Gambling Commission had said earlier in the day that
Stake.uk.com would no longer be a licensed gambling website
following an investigation and added the operator, TGP Europe
Ltd, will shut down the site by next month.
Stake.com is the front-of-shirt sponsor of Everton and
online gaming platforms Kaiyun and BC Game similarly sponsor
Nottingham Forest and Leicester City.
The Gambling Commission said on Wednesday its letter will
warn club officers they could face fines, imprisonment or both
if they are convicted of promoting unlicensed gambling
businesses that transact with consumers in Britain.
"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," it
said.
BC Game had disabled new registrations from November as it
shuts down its UK website, a notice on the site showed.
Everton declined to comment. Leicester and Nottingham Forest
did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment,
while Stake, Kaiyun and BC Games could not be immediately
contacted.
Premier League clubs had collectively agreed to stop
featuring gambling sponsorship on the front of soccer kits from
the 2026-27 season, the English top-flight league said in 2023.
A probe into Stake.uk.com was launched by the gambling
regulator after a widely circulated social media video showed
the Stake-branded logo alongside an adult actress near
Nottingham Trent University.
The gambling regulator said TGP has agreed to immediately
stop accepting new registrations for Stake.uk.com and remove
redirection links from the main Stake website. The platform's
final shutdown in Great Britain will be done by March 11.
(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil and Yadarisa Shabong in
Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru;
Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
((abyjose.koilparambil@thomsonreuters.com;))