Everton FC Faces Backlash Over Gambling Sponsorship Deal

An Everton Football Club fan has gathered more than 30,000 signatures in a petition to overturn the club’s recent £12.5million annual deal with gambling operator Stake.com. Ben Melvin, a lifelong Everton fan who has suffered from severe gambling addiction, believes that displaying the sportsbook’s logo on the club’s shirt will see children “bombarded with the Stake.com brand every time they watch their favorite team play”.

The petition on 38degrees.org leads with the banner “Don’t use our shirt to advertise harmful gambling products!”. Melvin states: “A partnership with Stake cannot sit comfortably alongside the fantastic work done by the club’s Everton In The Community in tackling mental health issues.”

The Premiership club signed the massive deal in the knowledge that it was balancing huge debt with a potential backlash with fans over the sponsorship. Melvin’s petition alludes to that by quoting the club’s current chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale in 2020, who said “In an ideal world the club would not be sponsored by a gambling company... we certainly don’t want to be responsible for driving irresponsible betting.”