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Stake F1 Team will drive with full name at Zandvoort after all
- Sandy van Wijngaarden
Although in the Netherlands the promotion of online gambling is partly banned by law and the Dutch Kansspelautoriteit has urged the Stake F1 Team not to advertise its sponsor, GPblog can confirm that the Swiss-based team will still drive around Zandvoort using its full name.
Stake is a gambling company operating mainly in the United States and England. In the Netherlands, the operator does not have a licence. The Dutch Gambling Authority earlier issued a statement in which it said it had requested both the organisers of the Dutch Grand Prix and the Stake F1 Team itself not to drive around with that name.
Stake F1 Team drives with betting sponsor in the Netherlands after all
Although the team itself did not initially respond to questions on the matter, GPblog can now confirm that the team will 'just' drive around with the original name. This therefore goes against the request of the Dutch Kansspelautoriteit. This, however, is not prohibited by Dutch laws, meaning Stake F1 are fine to use their original name.
A little dip into Dutch legislation shows the following. As of 1 January 2023, high-risk online gambling operators are no longer allowed to advertise their gambling offers in an untargeted way. An example is the advertisements of 'TOTO'. Next year, the regulations will be made even stricter. From 1 January 2025, all sponsorship of programmes, events and sports, among others, will no longer be allowed. So it looks like next year Stake will have to drive around the Netherlands with a different name after all.
This article has been written in collaboration with Ben Stevens.