A gambling website promoting one of Sauber’s title sponsors faces closure in the United Kingdom following an investigation by the Gambling Commission.
Stake, whose name appeared on Sauber’s cars last year at races where gambling adverts are legal, will close its UK website next month.
The commission announced Stake.uk.com, which is operated by TGP Europe Limited, will no longer be a licensed website from next month. It said the action had been taken in response to a video promoted on social media platform X featuring a pornographic actress, filmed in the UK, to which Stake’s logos had been added.
“The move follows the launch of a commission investigation into a widely viewed video displaying the Stake-branded logo, which was distributed on a social media platform and featured an adult actress outside Nottingham Trent University,” said the commission in a statement.
The commission fined TGP £316,250 in 2023 for failing to take sufficient action to promote responsible gambling and prevent money-laundering.
“TGP has previously been the subject of enforcement action and after a meeting with the commission have stated they will immediately stop accepting new registrations to the Stake.uk.com platform and remove redirection links from the main Stake website,” the commission stated. “Final shutdown of the Great Britain site will take place by 11 March 2025.”
The commission said it will contact the Premier League football team Everton, which is also sponsored by Stake, and other clubs with unlicensed sponsors, to warn them over “the risks of promoting unlawful gambling websites.”
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“Clubs will be asked to demonstrate that they have assurance that any steps to geo-block the sites are effective, recognising that some blocking can be easily bypassed by use of tools such as a virtual private network,” the commission added.
“Clubs will be expected to carry out sufficient due diligence to assure the commission that consumers cannot transact with the sites from Great Britain by any means. The commission will also be taking steps to independently verify effective measures are in place.
“The letter will warn that club officers may be liable to prosecution and, if convicted, face a fine, imprisonment or both if they promote unlicensed gambling businesses that transact with consumers in Great Britain.”
Sauber’s team is based in Switzerland but the decision may have implications for its activities in the UK, where it also intends to open a new engineering hub later this year.
The team entered this season under the official name ‘Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber’, as it did last year. During 2024 it appeared without Stake branding at five rounds – in Australia, Spain, Belgium, Qatar and Abu Dhabi – due to local advertising restrictions. It is due to present its new livery for the 2025 season in London next week and participate in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July.
Sauber will rebrand as Audi’s works Formula 1 entry next year. The team has been approached for comment.
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The Stake video, which appeared in December, prompted a complaint by the Coalition to End Gambling Ads to culture secretary Lisa Nandy last month. Gambling Commission data highlighted by CEGA claims as many as 1.3 million people in the UK could have a problem with gambling and a million more may “experience severe negative consequences from someone else’s gambling.”
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