Bet365 Bypasses Italian Ad Ban With Napoli “Infotainment” Deal

A subsidiary of international online gambling giant Bet365 has orchestrated a deal with Italian champions Napoli that could beat the new Italian regulations on betting sponsorship and advertising in sport – a manoeuvre that highlights the increasingly sophisticated lengths to which operators will go to penetrate Europe’s fragmented regulatory landscape.

Bet365 Scores, an app offering real-time statistics and results, has been unveiled as Napoli’s Official Infotainment Partner, with the club announcing the arrangement via social media on Tuesday. The platform, which employs the same distinctive typography as its parent brand, emerged as Bet365’s primary vehicle during the recent Champions League season for matches in territories where betting advertising faces restrictions.

“We are very happy to start this adventure with Bet365 Scores, which knows how to speak authentically to football fans,” declared Napoli’s chief revenue officer Tommaso Bianchini, his enthusiasm perhaps tempered by the commercial realities facing Italian clubs since the implementation of the ‘Dignity Decree’ in 2019.

Creative bookmaker deals are evident across Serie A. Betway’s subsidiary Betway Scores has secured Fiorentina’s shirt sleeve sponsorship for 2024-25, while gaming firm LeoVegas operates through its online news sub-brand to partner with Atalanta. Perhaps most significantly, iGaming firm Betsson’s sport infotainment brand Betsson Sport stands midway through a four-year front-of-shirt deal with AC Milan.

Italy’s comprehensive gambling advertising ban, introduced through the ‘Dignity Decree’ in July 2019, prohibited all gambling-related sponsorships and advertising partnerships in connection with sporting and cultural events. The legislation has left Italian clubs financially disadvantaged compared to their Premier League counterparts, where gambling platforms have become ubiquitous shirt sponsors, though Premier League shirt front advertising by bookmakers is timetabled to come to an end.

Serie A is now exerting pressure on government to amend the advertising ban, enabling sponsorship deals with betting operators. The prohibition has become a major revenue issue for Italian clubs, depriving them of income streams that their European rivals continue to exploit.

This regulatory arbitrage reflects broader European trends. Spain banned gambling sponsors in football in 2021, while the Netherlands legalised gambling sponsorships the same year before swiftly reversing course after regulators observed a spike in betting activity. Germany has rejected a sports sponsorship ban following discussions at the Sports Committee of the German Bundestag, maintaining a more permissive stance.

Almost 300 top-flight clubs currently hold deals with betting firms, exposing football’s financial dependence on the sector. The ingenuity displayed by operators in navigating these restrictions suggests the battle between regulators and the gambling industry remains far from resolved.

Insideworldfootball.com