The United Kingdom Gives Stake Casino the Boot

The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) has announced that Stake.uk.com will no longer operate in the UK market from the 10th of March 2025.

The move follows the Commission's launch of an investigation into a widely viewed video featuring an adult entertainment actress outside Nottingham Trent University. The video displayed the Stake-branded logo and was distributed on social media.

 TGP Commits to Shutdown of Stake in the UK

Following the regulator’s announcement, TGP Europe Limited (TGP), which operates Stake in the UK on a white-label basis, stated they would complete a full shutdown of the site by 11th March 2025. 

TGP added that it will immediately stop accepting new registrations to Stake’s UK platform and will remove any redirection links to the main Stake website. This was in reaction to the Gambling Commission’s statement, which read:

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“When an operator leaves the British gambling market, we expect an orderly closure of its website to consumers in Great Britain, and this includes providing consumers with clear information on how to obtain their funds.” 

In its response to white-label operator TGP Europe informing the regulator it will shut down the crypto casino giant’s UK-facing website in March, a Stake spokesperson said:

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“Stake has made a strategic decision in mutual agreement with TGP Europe to exit white-label agreements and focus on securing local licenses through our in-house platform and operations, building upon our growth in key regulated markets such as our recent expansions into Italy and Brazil.”

Players have since received an emailed notification of Stake’s impending exit, which informed them that Stake had made a “business decision” to cease operations in the UK. On the 10th of March, Stake.uk.com will close its site down, and no account access will be available.

The brand further advised all customers to log in and withdraw any funds from their accounts before the date of closure. 

 Gambling Commission Issues Warning to Premier League Clubs

Stake.com has been the front-of-shirt sponsor for Everton FC since the 2022-23 season. It remains to be seen if this will continue once now the site is no longer operating in the UK.

The Commission has said it will warn football club officers they could face fines, imprisonment or both if they are convicted of promoting illegal gambling businesses transacting with British consumers.  

Recently, the regulator said it would write to three Premier League football clubs - Everton, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City, warning them of the risks of promoting unlicensed gambling websites on their shirts. Kaiyun and BC.Game similarly sponsors Notts Forest and Leicester. 

It added that clubs are expected to carry out sufficient due diligence to ensure that they cannot transact with sites from within Great Britain by any means. A notice on the BC.Game website showed that it had disabled new registrations from November 2024, as it also shut down its UK website.