- Australian online betting firm Stake is Everton’s front-of-shirt sponsor
- The firm has now given up its GB licence following an ad featuring a porn star
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The video that saw Everton receive a written warning after their shirt sponsor was outlawed thanks to a link with adult actress Bonnie Blue has recirculated on social media.
A clip probed by the Gambling Commission showed the Stake logo on screen while the porn star – who claims to have slept with more than 1,000 men in a day – was stood outside Nottingham Trent University vowing to ‘sleep with 180-barely legal 18 year olds’.
It has now been deleted and was never promoted by an official Stake account. However, the matter was investigated by the Gambling Commission due to concerns over sexual content being used to promote gambling, and Stake – an Australian online betting firm – has decided to give up its licence in Great Britain.
That investigation came after the Coalition to End Gambling Ads had shared a screenshot of the video and expressed their outrage.
‘We’ve submitted a complaint to the ASA about this gambling advert by Stake featuring pornographic actress Bonnie Blue,’ their statement on January 7 read.
‘It clearly breaches rules to stop gambling being linked to seduction and appealing to young people. Let’s see if @ASA_UK (Advertising Standards Authority) or @GamRegGB (Gambling Commission) do anything about it.’
Everton front-of-shirt sponsor Stake, an Australian betting firm, has given up its GB licence
It comes amid an investigation into an advert featuring porn star Bonnie Blue (pictured)
The related clip showed the Stake logo on screen while the porn star was stood outside Nottingham Trent University vowing to ‘sleep with 180-barely legal 18 year olds’
Blue – whose real name is Tia Billinger – is not included in the investigation and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on her part.
Mail Sport reported on Wednesday how Nottingham Forest and Leicester City will also receive written warnings and all three could be hit with fines while staff could face prison sentences over front-of-shirt sponsors that have been deemed ‘unlawful’ in Great Britain.
Stake will stop operating in this country by March 11.
In a strongly-worded statement, the Gambling Commission said Everton and two other Premier League clubs, understood to be Forest and Leicester, would now receive the warnings. Fines and prison sentences may follow if measures are not in place to ensure that sponsors cannot transact with consumers in this country.
The move is unlikely to affect Everton’s partnership with Stake, which is global, rather than UK-focused. New owners Friedkin Group inherited the relationship.
Forest sponsor, the Asian sportsbook Kaiyun, is unlicensed in Britain, while Leicester partner BC Game is also unlicensed here.
Premier League clubs will not promote bookmakers on the front of shirts from the 2026-27 season.
‘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,’ a Gambling Commission statement read.
The Gambling Commission are also preparing to write to Nottingham Forest and Leicester
‘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.
‘Clubs will be asked to demonstrate that they have assurance that any steps to geo-block the sites are effective, recognising that some blocking can be easily by-passed by use of tools such as a Virtual Private Network.
‘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. The Commission will also be taking steps to independently verify effective measures are in place.’
