Italy moves toward changes to its gambling sponsorship laws

Italy is grappling with its ban on gambling sponsorship in sports, particularly soccer, as the country’s Senate prepares to revoke or modify the rule that has been in place since 2019. 

As reported by Gazzetta dello Sport, Sports Minister Andrea Abodi is in dialogue with Italian soccer clubs to thrash out a new sponsorship code to be presented to the Culture Committee of the Senate. 

Italy’s Serie A league has traditionally been a powerhouse of European soccer at the top level, but in the modern game, it has lost ground to England’s Premier League and Spain’s La Liga.

Back in 2019, when the gambling sponsorship ban was introduced, Serie A estimated that the state would lose out on around $728.4 million (€700m) in taxes over the next three years. It was also outlined how the loss of funding from gambling sponsorship would create “competitive disadvantages for Italian clubs”, while possibly diverting crucial sponsorship/advertising spends to other European markets.

The Dignity Decree of 2018 is the basis for the existing ban, but the 7th Senate Commission has said the framework is unworkable, and the restrictions damage Italy’s regulated gambling market. 

The Commission wants the Decree to be halted to allow Abodi to find a new agreement in conjunction with the clubs. It has been mooted for 1% of the “betting allocation” to be funnelled toward crucial infrastructure in Italian soccer, such as stadiums, academy and grassroots systems, and women’s soccer.

The professional clubs in Italy’s top two divisions, Serie A and B, are known to be in favor of reform, especially as more than half of the top-flight teams had partnerships with betting firms before the ban. 

There is an understanding that the situation needs to be resolved so that crucial revenue is not lost again, which is why fresh legislation changes are expected. 

Italian soccer clubs have found a way to work around the ban, as Inter Milan has shown.

Their deal with Betsson Sport has seen that entity referred to as a subsidiary “sport infotainment brand”. 

This theme has been repeated in other European countries, including Belgium, where gambling companies launch offshoot sports apps for news and information on sports, with direct links to betting markets and offerings, essentially belonging to the parent brand.

Image credit: Inter Milan/X

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