Serie A clubs in Italy could be set for additional revenues as the country’s ban on betting sponsorship and advertising is reportedly set to be lifted by the government.
According to a report from Sport Business, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and Serie A have been calling on the Italian government for the ban to be lifted, which came into effect on 1 January 2019.
Within the Italian political party Five Star Movement’s Dignity Decree, it was successful in implementing an outright ban of betting/gambling sponsorship and marketing within football.
This meant that clubs across Serie A were unable to agree deals for betting brands to be featured on shirts and marketed as club partners on advertising boards, resulting in losing out on millions of euros in revenue.
Having been in effect since the start of the 2019/20 season, the ban meant that more than half of Serie A teams at the time had to agree new deals as they had pre-existing agreements with betting companies.
However, club officials were able to find ways around the ban to partner with gambling firms. Teams across Serie A began to partner with subsidiaries of gambling operators to sponsor and market Italian clubs.
These ‘infotainment’ deals bypassed rules and enabled clubs to gain revenue from firms classed as a ‘sport infotainment’ entity. These deals usually include partnership benefits like exclusive club content, news and highlights, whilst not outright promoting gambling or betting.
An example of this would be Inter Milan’s partnership with Betsson Sport, the club’s front-of-shirt sponsor and the subsidiary of online sports betting firm Betsson.
Uplifted Ban to Uplift Serie A revenues?
According to reports from Italy, Serie A President Ezio Simonelli and Italian Minister of Sport Andrea Abodi are set to meet to revise Five Star Movement’s Dignity Decree.
Reports even suggest that clearance for the removal of the sports betting sponsorship ban may come as soon as today (26 February), with a decision set to be made by the Senate Culture Committee to either revoke or modify the decree.
The 7th Senate Commission has backed the review, which is lobbying for the introduction of a ‘1% betting allocation’ that will allow gambling revenue in the country to be distributed to Italian clubs to develop stadiums, grassroots facilities and women’s football.
If the ban were to be lifted, it would represent a major boost to Serie A club revenues. When the ban was first implemented in 2019, the football league estimated that €700m would be lost as a result.
Now, Serie A clubs stand to make significantly more in revenue due to gambling operators typically offering more lucrative deals than any other sector, particularly when it comes to football.
Deals such as the Inter Milan and Betsson Sport one could be renegotiated to have the Betsson Group brand become Inter’s primary sponsor, which could help the club turn a net profit after owners Oaktree have decreased the club’s debt to €36m.
