The Dutch Gaming Authority, De Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has declared that no gambling sponsorships will be permitted during next weekend’s Formula 1 Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
Under strict new Dutch law introduced last month, it is prohibited to display advertising for sports betting apps that are not regulated within the Netherlands.
The KSA confirmed it had contacted all the relevant sports bodies and the event organisers to make it clear that no teams, domestic or international, will be allowed to compete with visible branding associated with gambling.
What Does This Mean For Stake F1?
That constitutes a significant blow for Stake, the online casino and sports betting site, which holds the title sponsorship rights for Sauber Motorsport.
Stake F1’s two matt green and black C45 race cars – driven by Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto – carry extensive Stake branding all over their bodywork.
The solution though is hidden in the team’s official name, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber.
Kick is the streaming service set up to rival Twitch with funding from the Australian billionaires behind Stake.com and the Kick brand will take over Stake’s positions for the Dutch Grand Prix.
It is a move familiar to the Swiss-based motorsport outfit as it has operated similar switches for races in Belgium last month and also previously in Spain, Australia and Qatar, where regulatory conditions have applied.
The KSA requested that Sauber drop the Stake name from last year’s Dutch Grand Prix but as it was an informal approach the Stake-branded cars still took part.
For this year’s event, the Dutch regulator has made it clear that companies such as Stake must implement measures such as geo-blocking to prevent Dutch fans from accessing their platforms.
Stake has been building its portfolio of sponsorship deals and last month ventured into esports, being announced as the official betting partner for Team Vitality.
Allwyn Another Big Player In F1
Allwyn is familiar name to motorsport fans as the company became an official partner to Formula 1 at the start of the 2025 season.
The multi-national lottery operator saw the association as an ideal way of increasing its global awareness, with F1 hosting 24 races worldwide, attracting an estimated 750 million fans and boasting 96 million followers on social media.
In February, Allwyn also became an official partner for the Mclaren F1 team, the 2024 Constructors’ Champions.
McLaren’s two drivers, Oscar Pastri and Lando Norris, presently sit first and second in the Drivers’ Championship after 14 races.
The F1 Dutch Grand Prix is the highlight of the year for motorsport fans in the Netherlands, especially with the recent success of four-time and defending world champion Max Verstappen.
The first two publicly viewed practice sessions at Zandvoort take place next Friday, with the third practice session and the qualifying round being completed on Saturday.
The lights go out for the start of the big race on Sunday, August 31.
Jim Munro is a betting industry and gambling expert who has been a national newspaper journalist for over 30 years, predominantly at The Sunday Times and The Sun, where he wrote a weekly soccer betting column. Jim also worked on the launch of Virgin Bet with Gamesys and was subsequently head of editorial at LiveScore, the sports media and betting group.
