The Australian bookmaker Stake has been told to leave the UK market by the Gambling Commission over a series of shocking social media posts.
The firm has used Twitter as a leveraging platform, adding their Stake watermark to social media videos of increasingly risqué content – one including the infamous adult performer, Lily Phillips.
The regulator believes that the activity is a violation of their licensing conditions, and after meeting with Stake’s white label partner TGP Europe, have told the operator to leave the UK market with almost immediate effect.
Stake Filleted
A message posted on the stake.uk.com platform today (February 12) reads:
“We regret to inform you of a business decision that has led to the Stake brand ceasing its UK operations. On Monday, 10th March 2025, stake.uk.com will close its website, and you will no longer be able to access your account.”
This is an operator that has never shied away from controversy, whether it’s promoting the activities of a sex worker – notably the Lily Phillips video that would be their undoing in the UK – or turning a blind eye to the problematic gambling of brand ambassador Drake, who is said to have lost millions of dollars betting on live streams with the firm.
Their social media activity has been the final nail in the coffin. They have battled Elon Musk for monopolisation of Twitter’s ‘For You’ feed, adding their branding to a series of viral videos featuring questionable or adult content.
Back in October, the Advertising Standards Agency revealed that it was keeping a close eye on Stake’s social media activity, while their decision to partner with prominent Twitch and TikTok streamers might also be seen as promoting gambling to minors – a failure to act in a social responsibility way, which in turn might be perceive as a breach of licensing conditions.
That prompted the Gambling Commission’s probe into the operator; a decision no doubt partially made given TGP Europe’s own social responsibility and anti-money laundering failings in the past. They were fined £316,000 in April 2023 for a series of breaches of their licensing conditions.
TGP Europe has confirmed that they will stop accepting new registrations to Stake’s UK portal immediately, with all redirection links from the main Stake website also deleted. The operator will cease trading completely on UK soil as of March 11, 2025.
“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,” a spokesperson for the firm said.
If you have a Stake UK account, you should withdraw any funds as soon as possible; contact their customer service team should you require further assistance.
Everton Face Stake Strife
What happens when, as an English football club, your front-of-shirt sponsor is forced to exit the UK market?
Everton are about to find out, given that they penned a sponsorship agreement with Stake back in 2022 that was set to run through until the summer of 2026. It’s thought that the Australian operator paid the Toffees £10 million per season for the privilege.
ℹ️ | Everything you need to know about our new main partner, Stake. #EFC 🔵
— Everton (@Everton) June 9, 2022
The Gambling Commission has confirmed that it will be writing to Everton to remind them of the perils of promoting unlawful or unlicensed gambling firms – which includes the possibility of fines and even imprisonment for club officials who gave the green light to the agreement.
Although Stake have been the club’s front-of-shirt sponsor, they haven’t expanded their partnership with Everton beyond that – there’s no advertising within their Goodison Park stadium or concourse betting kiosks, and their UK-facing white label deal with TGP Europe is seen merely as a shortcut to advertising their wares to a global audience.
By sponsoring the Merseyside outfit, Stake can market their sportsbook to the entire globe, given the huge viewership numbers that the Premier League enjoys around the world. It’s a tactic already adopted by Asia-based operators like NET88, bj88 and Kaiyun Sports, who benefit from advertising to many tens of millions every single week.
Even so, the regulator will demand that if Everton continue to wear shirts bearing the Stake branding, they must prove that UK based punters are not able to access the operator’s site via a VPN, with appropriate geo-blocking technologies in place.
The Toffees will be asked to show proof of their due diligence, with the information provided independently verified by the Gambling Commission.