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Chelsea FC is moving in the opposite direction from the English Premier League (EPL), which is getting ready to outlaw gambling sponsorships on the front of shirts. The club has made the decision to collaborate with Stake.com, an online gaming service.
The English Premier League recently announced that starting with the 2026–27 season, it will prohibit all front-of-shirt sponsorships. The decision was taken after the majority of EPL teams voted in favor of the change, which has no impact on sleeve sponsorships.
The club feels that the EPL is somewhat to blame for this choice. It desired a collaboration with Paramount Plus. However, the league rejected the petition because it was worried that it may annoy its broadcast partners.
Over the years, Stake.com has been in a number of dubious circumstances such as disputed wagers by Canadian musician Drake, a multimillion-dollar lawsuit brought by a former partner, and other problems which have occasionally damaged its reputation.
Another arrangement, though, seems to have made Chelsea tone-deaf to the bad press since it is more personal for UK soccer fans. A recent deal between Everton and Stake.com resulted in a strong outcry from the team's supporters.
If Chelsea and Stake.com want to get the most out of their partnership, they must act quickly. The EPL can only collaborate with the gaming operator for two seasons under its new policy.
Additionally, there's still a risk that the agreement will fail entirely, depending on how Chelsea's management, notably American millionaire Todd Boehly, responds. Fans of the squad have already begun to discuss a coup, and the criticism is growing louder.
In fact, according to a survey done by the Chelsea Supporters' Trust (CST), 77% of the team's supporters oppose the sponsorship arrangement. The agreement might still go through if Boehly and the other executives think the sponsorship deal will bring in more money than Chelsea might lose by losing fan support.
Stake.com appears to want to play in its own backyard even if the company is establishing new sponsorship relationships around the globe. Although it has a gaming license from Curaçao and isn't a legal choice there, the operator's top management is located in Australia offering a number of bet offers there, competing with top sportsbooks like Unibet, BlueBet and PlayUp, all offering some of the best Aussie bonus bet offers at the moment.
However, according to The Herald Sun, Edward Craven and Bijan Tehrani, the business's proprietors, want to alter that. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has received a new entity registration from them. Stake Gaming Pty Ltd. is the first gaming business connected to Stake.com to receive approval. That the ultimate goal is to enter Australia and compete with Sportsbet or Tabcorp has not been openly acknowledged. Tehrani did reveal, however, that Stake.com was presently submitting an application for an Australian sports betting license to The Weekend Australian Magazine last year.
In the rest of the world, Stake.com apparently manages over AU$585 million (US$401.6 million) per day. It might use that accomplishment as a springboard to seize control of the Australian market.
- Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com
