Italian club SS Lazio ends Polymarket sponsorship as regulator blocks prediction markets

Italian Serie A football club SS Lazio and prediction market Polymarket have mutually agreed to terminate their sponsorship agreement earlier than planned. 

On Tuesday, the Rome-based club announced that the termination had taken place both consensually and “in a spirit of mutual cooperation”. 

The move is in response to “new provisions adopted by the competent authorities that have impacted the regulatory framework”, according to Lazio.

Polymarket was named by the Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) as a prohibited site on 10 July and, according to local reporting, was subsequently inaccessible to Italian players from 27 July.

In Italy, gambling-based sponsorships were banned in 2018 alongside gambling advertising.

To ban, or not to ban

Italy joins a handful of other European countries, such as Spain, Czechia and France, in blocking the prevelant prediction market site for not meeting various gambling regulations.

Regulators have cited consumer protection concerns and unauthorised gambling activity as primary reasons for blocking the vertical.

Italy is also part of a nine-regulator-strong consortium which launched a crackdown against prediction market platforms in June.

Background of the partnership

As part of the sponsorship deal, which was made official in April of this year, Polymarket was made both the football club’s official sponsor and its ‘Fan Intelligence & Digital Insight Partner’. 

According to Lazio’s initial sponsorship announcement, the deal was valued at more than $22 million, with additional “performance and activation-based bonuses”. 

As part of the settlement, Polymarket committed to paying the full amount originally agreed for the 2026/27 season.

Both parties expressed a desire to keep a lines of communications open and indicated they could revisit a partnership if future regulation were to become more accommodating.

Revenue effect for Italian football

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) called on the government to reconsider the country’s strict betting advertising restrictions earlier this year.

In its published report, the FIGC urged a review of the 2018 ban of advertising and sponsorship by betting operators, originally enacted through the “Decreto Dignità”. 

The ban has significantly reduced sponsorship income for clubs, placing Italian football at a disadvantage compared to other top European leagues.