Last February, the Gambling Commission, the UK gambling regulator warned Premier League clubs about sponsorships with gambling companies. The announcement came after Stake shut down operations in Great Britain. This happened months after BC.Game announced its exit from the UK. Stake decided to stop operations in the United Kingdom following an advertisement featuring a popular adult film actress.
The Commission demanded that they take steps to prevent accepting customers from the United Kingdom. This directive followed the market exit of the two companies. Everton and Leicester City, which have active sponsorship agreements with Stake.com and BC.Game, were also notified. The Commission instructed them to demonstrate measures for geoblocking the mentioned websites. At the same instant, the regulator acknowledged that users can bypass some geo-blocks using VPNs.
CEGA, the Coalition to End Gambling Ads, recently announced that British customers can still access these platforms. This remains the case despite the exit of the two operators from the market. The group accused the two Premier League clubs of promoting illegal gambling. It also questioned whether the Gambling Commission would consider prosecution.
A statement from the Coalition to End Gambling Ads reads, “An investigation by CEGA has found illegal gambling websites promoted by Everton and Leicester City FC are still easily accessible to British Customers, a month after UK Gambling Commission warned them of potential prosecution if found to be the case.
In the previous week, the gambling watchdog in the UK slapped Corbett bookmakers with a £688,070 or $890,000 fine. After social responsibility and Anti-Money Laundering practice failures, the monetary sanction came. Regardless, the Commission hasn’t publicly commented on the case with Everton and Leicester City at the time of writing.
