Stake shifts to Everton’s sleeve as CMC Markets takes the shirt front
Everton has confirmed Stake as the club’s new Official Sleeve Partner from the start of the 2026/27 season, ending the operator’s four-year run as the club’s front-of-shirt sponsor. CMC Markets, a share-trading and spread-betting platform, takes over the front-of-shirt position under a separate multi-year agreement. Neither deal’s financial terms have been disclosed.
Stake’s branding moves to the sleeve on the men’s, women’s and under-21s kits, with continued visibility across matchday and digital channels. Both partners will also feature at Hill Dickinson Stadium, Goodison Park and the Finch Farm training ground.
Andrew Middleton, Everton’s President of Business Operations, framed the renewal as continuity rather than a downgrade.
“Stake has been a major supporter of Everton over the past four seasons and this agreement reflects both the strength of our relationship and the continued growth of Everton’s commercial partnership portfolio. It also provides continuity with a partner that understands the Club, our supporters and the global reach of Everton Football Club.”
A ban three years in the making
The switch is not a marketing choice. It executes a Premier League policy that 18 of the league’s 20 clubs voted for in 2023: removing gambling logos from the front of shirts from the 2026/27 season. The vote came as the UK government reviewed the Gambling Act 2005, with reform advocates pushing for a broader ban on betting-club sponsorship across English sport. The Premier League’s clubs moved first, and only on the shirt front. Sleeve sponsorships, pitch-perimeter advertising, training-kit branding and social media deals with betting firms remain permitted.
CMC Markets, the incoming front-of-shirt sponsor, sits in an unusual position for a swap billed as a move away from betting. It is a FTSE 250 company whose core product is financial spread betting, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority rather than the Gambling Commission. Lord Peter Cruddas, the firm’s founder and chief executive, tied the deal to its trading business rather than sport.
“Football is one of the few passions in life that inspires lifelong commitment because, like financial markets, you invest in your club long-term. Supporters are passionate about their clubs, and at CMC Markets, we are passionate about investing and trading.”
Stake’s UK status keeps drawing scrutiny
Founded in 2017, Stake is not licensed by the Gambling Commission, and stake.com is inaccessible to UK-based users. The Everton sponsorship has continued on the basis that the Premier League’s audience is overwhelmingly international, a defence clubs have relied on as offshore operators expanded their presence in English football.
That defence has come under sustained pressure from Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, which has pressed six Premier League clubs, including Everton, over their sponsorship links to unlicensed operators. Entain has raised the issue directly with Premier League leadership, the Independent Football Regulator and individual clubs, and has separately flagged Stake’s use of social media influencers reaching UK audiences.
The government is weighing a harder line. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Illegal Gambling Taskforce is consulting on whether to bar unlicensed betting operators from sponsoring UK sport altogether, a measure that would not distinguish between shirt front and sleeve. Akhil Sarin, Stake’s Chief Marketing Officer, said the company was committed to the relationship regardless.
“Our partnership with Everton has been an important and successful one, and we are proud to continue our relationship with one of English football’s most historic and globally recognised clubs. Over the past four years, Everton has provided Stake with a powerful platform to connect with audiences around the world.”
The taskforce’s conclusions are still pending. Whatever the shirt says this season, that decision, not the Premier League’s front-of-shirt vote, will determine how much longer Stake and operators like it keep any presence in English football at all.
Source: Everton Football Club
