Stake.com signs record Everton FC sponsorship deal
Stake.com has signed a multi-year deal to feature on the front of Everton FC shirts.
UK.- The Premier League club Everton FC will be hoping that rumours that the UK government has dropped plans to ban gambling sponsorship in sports are true. It has just signed its biggest ever front-of-shirt deal with online casino operator Stake.com.
Undaunted by the possibility of legislation against such deals, and despite chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale’s comments about gambling sponsorship in the past, the club has signed a multi-year deal that it described as its biggest in its 144-year history. Stake.com will replace car seller Cazoo on the front of Everton’s shirts from July 1.
Its branding will also feature on screens and media backdrops at Goodison Park, Finch Farm and on digital platforms.
Barrett-Baxendale said: “Stake.com is an ambitious organisation with impressive growth plans and we’re all very excited to enter into a partnership with them at this stage in their journey.
“My talented colleagues in our new revenue team have made excellent progress in recent months and worked tirelessly to secure what is the biggest main partnership deal in the club’s history – I’d like to congratulate them on this achievement and, on behalf of everyone at the club, express my gratitude to Stake.com for choosing Everton as a long-term partner.
“Finally, I am pleased to say that we have already been working together with Stake.com on some exciting activities and content for our local and international supporters and we look forward to sharing more detail on these plans soon.”
Founded in 2017, Stake.com’s latest deal is its most high-profile to date. It had already entered sports sponsorship partnerships as the UFC Official Betting Partner in Latin America, Asia and Brazil and has individual ambassadorial deals with former Manchester City player Sergio Aguero, the rapper Drake and the UFC’s Israel Adesanya and Jose Aldo.
Head of acquisition Akhil Sarin said: “We are incredibly proud to be partnering with Everton, a club steeped in tradition and with a passionate and loyal fanbase respected the world over.
“Everton is a club that perfectly complements our own growth ambitions as we seek to expand our presence globally and strengthen our top-tier sports sponsorship portfolio. It’s a huge honour for everyone at Stake.com to be joining the Everton family and playing our part in supporting the club in the transition to the new stadium.
“We look forward to celebrating this most exciting chapter in the club’s history with Evertonians everywhere.”
UK MPs criticise Gambling Commission’s “risky” decision to licence Football Index
UK MPs criticised the Gambling Commission in a House of Commons debate on the collapse of Football Index. The football player trading platform run by BetIndex entered administration last year, with customers losing £90m in deposits, the House of Commons heard.
Conservative MP Aaron Bell said the Gambling Commission may have misled the public by licensing Football Index.
He said: “My five constituents – all young men – believed, because they saw the kitemark, that the Gambling Commission understood, and almost endorsed, the product. Obviously it did not.
“If we licence these sorts of products, then we ought to be standing behind them. We are not standing behind them now, as they are struggling to get any sort of compensation at all, although there is obviously an administration process going on.”
