Everton and Leicester City have been accused by an anti-gambling body of breaching the Gambling Commission’s demands by advertising gambling firms which are now unlicensed in the United Kingdom but whose controls against UK customers using the sites are easily bypassed.
The Coalition to End Gambling Ads (CEGA) has written to Everton and Leicester, which respectively display Stake.com and BC.Game’s logos on the front of their playing shirts, and urged the Gambling Commission (GC) — the body responsible for regulating gambling in the UK — to take action against them.
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The Athletic has seen video evidence which shows that while Stake has taken steps to deter UK customers, they are easy to bypass. The video shows CEGA creating an account on Stake.com from the UK by using a VPN, just ticking to accept the terms and conditions which do say, but only in the small print, that you can’t join if you’re a UK resident and then uploading a photo of a Stake advert involving an image of Bonnie Blue — a porn actress — at the ID verification stage before proceeding to gamble with crypto currency on the website.
Only after an hour or so did Stake’s systems spot the ID issue, restrict the account and ask for a new ID to be submitted. CEGA were free to gamble in the interim.
To access BC.Game’s website from the UK, the CEGA needed to use a VPN but did not need to verify any ID and was only required to submit an email address before depositing crypto currency and being able to gamble.
In February, the GC announced that Stake, an online gambling company and Everton’s front-of-shirt sponsor, was to have its UK license revoked on March 11 following an investigation into the company’s advertising conduct. A month earlier, CEGA had complained about a Stake advert that included an image of Blue.
As part of its statement in February, the GC warned other Premier League clubs about their sponsorships with gambling companies, including Leicester’s deal with BC.Game, a crypto gambling website.
The GC asked the clubs to demonstrate that “any steps to geo-block the sites” from the UK market are effective, before adding 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 GC’s statement issued in February read. “The Commission will also be taking steps to independently verify effective measures are in place.”
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Despite this, an investigation by the CEGA, detailed in the letter the anti-gambling charity sent to Everton and Leicester, has found that Stake.com and BC.Game “continue to be easily accessible from Great Britain using VPNs”.
“I have accessed both unlicensed gambling websites using a VPN,” the letter CEGA sent to both clubs read. “I have no prior experience of having used a VPN before.
“The sites pointed me towards cryptocurrency providers where I was able to purchase BitCoin and then deposit it in both websites and start gambling.”
The GC’s statement in February warned that “club officers may be liable to prosecution” and face “imprisonment” if they “promote unlicensed gambling businesses that transact with consumers in Great Britain”.
Neither Everton nor Leicester responded to the CEGA’s letter and have been contacted for comment by The Athletic. Both clubs declined to provide a statement but did say they are confident they are complying with the GC’s regulations.
Everton noted that their deal with Stake is a global partnership and maintain they have not advertised the UK market. They also said that they have done what was expected and asked of them in terms of being compliant with the GC’s regulations and were provided with assurances from Stake around the measures the company has taken.
These steps, Everton add, were carried out in a timely fashion and due diligence took place relating to the accessibility of the UK platform for UK consumers.
Leicester say they are in regular contact with the GC and are satisfied with their legal position.
Following CEGA’s investigation on Saturday, the coalition asked the GC what action it plans to take against Everton and Leicester.
(Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
When The Athletic contacted Stake regarding the CEGA’s investigation, a spokesperson said: “Stake takes compliance and regulatory integrity very seriously. The coalition’s actions were not just deceptive — they were outright fraudulent and illegal.
“They knowingly used a VPN to bypass geographic restrictions. They intentionally falsified personal details, including name, address, and identity. They deliberately misled Stake by accepting T&Cs they were in clear violation of. They fraudulently created an account using fake credentials, engaging in identity fraud. They attempted to conduct an illegal transaction, despite being in violation of multiple safeguards.
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“Stake’s compliance systems worked exactly as intended — the fraudulent account was swiftly flagged and permanently closed. This reaffirms that Stake is not operating in the UK, has no interest in doing so, and enforces strict controls to prevent access from restricted jurisdictions.
“What’s clear is that the coalition acted in bad faith — manufacturing a scenario to defame Stake, all while engaging in illegal conduct themselves. We reserve all rights in response to these false claims and will continue upholding the highest compliance standards in the industry.
“The reality is simple: extreme, illegal steps were taken to create an account, only to have it shut down by Stake within the hour. This was never about fairness or regulation — it was a targeted attack designed to mislead.”
In response to CEGA’s letter, a GC spokesperson told The Athletic: “We have nothing further to add to our information notice which clearly set out that football clubs are expected to carry out sufficient due diligence to assure the commission that consumers cannot transact with the sites from Great Britain by any means.
“As we set out at the time, we will be taking steps to verify that any sites promoted by football clubs have effective steps in place to prevent British consumers from being able to access those sites and will act accordingly if they do not. We would not give updates on any enforcement action we may be involved in.”
The UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which was also sent the CEGA’s letter, declined to comment, noting that it is a matter for the GC.
BC.Game did not respond to a request for comment.
(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
