Rival gambling giant targets Everton in sponsorship row – but is this really about fan welfare?

Everton have found themselves in the crosshairs of a lobbying campaign led by Entain – one of the world’s largest sports betting and gaming groups and the corporate parent of Ladbrokes, Coral, and bwin – after reports the club plan to continue their relationship with Stake by moving the brand to the shirt sleeve next season.

Simon Zinger, Entain’s General Counsel, has written to Everton, and the Everton Fan Advisory Board, arguing the arrangement would exploit a loophole and calling on the club to commit to only working with UK-licensed gambling sponsors. The letter was also shared with Kim Johnson MP, whose constituency covers the Hill Dickinson Stadium – a move that reads more like a press operation than a straightforward regulatory concern.

Zinger’s letter is part of a broader campaign: Entain has also written to Burnley, Fulham, Bournemouth, Sunderland, and Wolves over similar sponsorship arrangements. Everton face Sunderland this weekend – a fixture Entain’s CEO Stella David has publicly branded a “black market derby”, a phrase clearly designed to generate newspaper headlines rather than illuminate any genuine threat to fans.

The backdrop is a government consultation. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has said it will look at banning unlicensed gambling sponsors from UK sport, a process Entain is keen to accelerate.

“Everton’s reported decision to keep Stake as a sponsor next season, by moving it to the club shirt sleeve, shows how teams are finding loopholes which will only help the illegal market.”
Simon Zinger, General Counsel, Entain

The factual core of Entain’s complaint is real: Stake did lose its UK Gambling Commission licence, and illegal gambling is a genuine concern – consumers are estimated to stake around £2.7bn a year with unregulated operators. Those are serious issues that deserve serious scrutiny.

But Everton fans are entitled to weigh that against the source. This is a multi-billion pound company using their club – and their local MP – as props in a lobbying effort that happens to serve its own commercial interests. Whether the Blues should review their relationship with Stake is a legitimate question. Whether Entain is the right outfit to be asking it is quite another.

The club has not commented publicly on the letter at the time of writing.

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Simon Zinger/Entain plc’s Letter To Everton;

Subject: Unlicenced Gambling Sponsorship in the Premier League

Dear Mr Kinnear,

I am writing to you directly following the letter that Entain’s CEO, Stella David, sent to the Premier League’s CEO, Richard Masters, regarding the proliferation of unlicenced, illegal gambling operators.

As a regulated UK operator, Entain is deeply concerned that Everton continues to partner with Stake.com, an entity that does not hold a direct licence from the UK Gambling Commission.

As you will know, Stake’s heavy reliance on cryptocurrency and its history of operating in grey jurisdictions make it a lightning rod for concerns regarding money laundering and lack of player protection. Stake’s rapid rise has been fuelled by an unregulated streamer culture that specifically targets the younger demographics your Everton in the Community programmes seek to protect.

This sponsorship is fuelling a growing and harmful industry. The Betting & Gaming Council (BGC) estimates that UK consumers stake £2.7bn a year online with unregulated, illegal operators – a figure that is multiplied in recent years. With no regulation, predatory operators target problem gamblers and children. The community organisation Deal Me Out reported that 420,000 British children are gambling through VPNs, crypto wallets, and social media. The unregulated industry is also associated with organised crime, including money laundering, corruption, and human trafficking.

I welcome the Government’s intention to crack down on this. Going beyond the Premier League’s voluntary front-of-shirt gambling ban from next season, they are consulting on banning all unlicenced, illegal gambling operator sponsorship in sport, including sleeve patches and perimeter boards.

Richard Masters responded to Stella to state that the Premier League takes matters of integrity seriously, that the removal of front of shirt gambling sponsorship is a significant step, that clubs are permitted under the Gambling Act to enter into agreements with overseas gambling firms, provided that the gambling activity in question is not available to customers in the UK, and that clubs take their compliance responsibilities seriously.

But as Stella said in her letter to Richard Masters, we are concerned that:

1. The ban will take too long to come into effect. As you know, clubs are negotiating next season’s sponsors now. There is a risk that the process puts this back another year.
2. There will be loopholes. We have seen evidence that offshore operators are paying licenced ‘white label’ companies to circumvent the normal standards that regulated companies like mine adhere to. This practice could undermine the Government’s intended ban.

With the Premier League currently failing to show sufficient leadership, I am appealing to you directly. Under the Premier League Owners’ Charter, Everton has committed to running itself “in an economically stable, sustainable, and socially responsible manner” (Point 3) and to conduct its dealings “with good faith, honesty and the highest possible standards of professional behaviour and sporting integrity” (Point 10). On the evidence set out above, a front-of-shirt partnership with an unlicensed gambling operator cannot be squared with either. Everton is a proud club that deserves better than to be sold out to nefarious sponsors.

I ask that you commit to only using gambling sponsors with a licence from the Gambling Commission next season, and to conduct reasonable due diligence as to the legitimacy of that licence.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you, either bilaterally or in partnership with the anti-illegal gambling community organisations we work closely with.

Yours sincerely,

Simon Zinger

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Simon Zinger/Entain plc letter to Everton Fan Advisory Board

Re: Protecting Everton FC fans from unregulated, illegal gambling operators

Dear Mr Rigby,

I am writing to you because Entain – one of the country’s leading UK-regulated gambling companies – believes that football fans deserve a sport that is safe, transparent, and legal.

Unfortunately, Everton is currently one of six Premier League teams accepting front-of-shirt sponsorship from unregulated, illegal gambling operators. While there is a voluntary agreement to end front-of-shirt gambling sponsors next season, the Premier League is actively lobbying to keep these unregulated brands on shirt sleeves and stadium hoardings.

I want to ensure you are aware of the risks these partnerships pose to your community and the integrity of the game:

• Targeting the vulnerable: These illegal operators often bypass UK safeguards, targeting children and individuals who have chosen to self-exclude due to gambling harms. For example, a report by community organisation Deal Me Out found that up to 420,000 British children may be engaging in illegal-market gambling, including through VPNs and cryptocurrency accounts.1

• Funding criminality: The same ecosystem that sponsors these shirts often finances illegal streaming services that steal content and undermine club revenues. Stephen Kavanagh, INTERPOL Executive Director of Police Services, said: “Organised crime networks reap huge profits from illegal gambling, which is often intertwined with corruption, human trafficking, and money laundering.”2

I believe this ‘loophole’ is unacceptable. Pitch-side advertising and sleeve branding still provide significant exposure for operators who offer no consumer protections and are linked to wider criminal activities such as fraud and money laundering.

I want a responsible betting sector that supports, rather than exploits, the fans. I believe fan associations have a powerful voice in telling clubs that taking money from the unlicensed, illegal market is not in the best interest of the supporters.

I have attached an open letter we recently sent to Richard Masters, CEO of the Premier League, which outlines these concerns in greater detail. Separately we have written to the Chairmen of the relevant Premier League clubs, including Everton, to ask for their response.

I would welcome the opportunity to brief your association on this issue and discuss how we can work together to protect the future of the game. We also work closely with several community organisations who campaign against illegal gambling and would be happy to facilitate meeting them if that would be welcome.

Yours sincerely,

Simon Zinger