The Italian government has approved a ban on all sports betting advertising from 1 January 2019, this means that any services or products that are gambling relating will be banned. This is of huge concern to Italian football clubs and the leagues as their revenue streams are set to be substantially cut.
Please see Stella Riberti's and Nicola Dolci comments below.
Nicola Dolci, trainee lawyer in our Milan office affirms: 'It is hard to assess the value to football clubs with any accuracy. In the Serie A league, there are fourteen clubs out of twenty that are sponsored by betting companies. Eurobet finances eight clubs that could be identified as mid-level power players of the Italian economy: Cagliari, Chievo, Fiorentina, Empoli, Genoa, Sampdoria, Atalanta and Udinese will be directly concerned by the ban.'
According to official statistics, just over €100 billion were spent in the betting and gambling industry in Italy in 2017, an increase of 6% from the previous year.
'The issue is whether this advertising ban will actually be an effective measure to combat gambling addiction' - states Stella Riberti, associate at our Milan office - Scientific studies conducted up to today are inconclusive. A similar scenario is the ban on cigarette advertising introduced in Italy in 1962, which reportedly has not decreased smoking addiction.
