Australian bookmaker and Everton sponsor Stake are in trouble with ASA over social media posts

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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) are investigating social media posts which superimpose the logo of Stake, an Australian gambling company that has its headquarters based in Curacao. 

The betting firm, who have been the front-of-shirt sponsors of Premier League side Everton since 2022, are accused of adding their logo to viral content, many of which feature disturbing content. 

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ASA, who are the UK’s independent regulator for advertising across all media, are responsible for ensuring gambling adverts are ‘socially responsible’ and show ‘strong regard’ to protecting children. 

Stake, who are also the named sponsor for Sauber's F1 team 'Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber', and have in the past used influencers including UFC champion Alex Pereira and music star Drake to boost their brand, have a ‘white label’ licence from the Gambling Commission which allows them to operate in the UK. 

The licence forces companies to abide by the UK advertising standards code of conduct. In relation to the online gambling industry, one of the codes states that adverts ‘should not appeal to children or young persons, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture.’

Stake’s branding is now appearing on a range of social media posts, with them originating from accounts that are likely to appeal and target younger followers. The company’s logo has appeared on trending posts that range from images and highlights of sporting events to fight videos. The company also advertises X-rated OnlyFans accounts as well as appearing on content that doesn’t belong to them. 

Back in October 2024, football journalist Fabrizio Romano highlighted the copyright issue by replying to a now deleted tweet saying: “I see you’re adding a sponsor on the bottom right of the image, did you ask permission?” The sponsor in this now deleted tweet was believed to be of the Stake logo. 

Social media platform X, which used to be known as Twitter and is now owned by the world’s richest man Elon Musk, allows community notes to fact-check and correct posts that are ‘untrue or misleading.’ 

One post which had the Stake logo on it had such treatment. It said: “This tweet contains a hidden ad for Stake, which is against the terms of service for being an undisclosed ad for a gambling service, which is prohibited on this site.”

Flutter-owned UK gambling firm SkyBet were previously in trouble with ASA for social media posts that were deemed to ‘strongly appeal to under-18s.’ The tweet in question was from former footballer-turned-media personality Gary Neville’s ‘The Overlap’ podcast, which featured a clip of him discussing who the potential Premier League winners will be. 

Stake was founded in 2017 and has already been surrounded by controversy because it allowed its customers to bet using cryptocurrency. The company, at the time of writing this post, has decided to decline to comment on the issue.