- Italian soccer club Lazio and Polymarket agreed to a $22 million sponsorship deal.
- The move pushes Polymarket and their prediction market to Italy/Europe, but these markets consider predictions the same as betting operators.
- Sports betting advertisement is illegal in Italy and soccer clubs are banned from agreeing to shirt sponsorship agreements with gambling companies, but Lazio believes their deal is legal.
ROME – After three years without a shirt sponsor, Serie A club Lazio agreed to a shirt sponsorship deal with Polymarket worth $22 million. The deal with the prominent US-based prediction market expires at the end of the 2027/28 season and raises questions considering Italy’s stance on prediction market operators.
Italy is one of several European countries that have explicitly declared prediction market operators will be treated the same as betting operators and require regulatory oversight. Interestingly, Polymarket would need a license from Italy’s ADM to operate in their club sponsor’s home country.
That European legislation against prediction markets explains why Polymarket is currently restricted in Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and most other European countries. The most notable European countries with full access to Polymarket services are Spain, Greece, and Switzerland, but most of their volume comes from major South American and Asian countries.
Is Polymarket/Lazio Sponsorship Legal?
Since Italy implemented a sports betting advertisement ban since 2018, Serie A clubs are banned from agreeing to shirt sponsorships with gambling companies. That creates an interesting situation with Polymarket, who is treated as a betting operator in Italy, but Lazio appears to believe the deal is legal.
Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time prediction markets toe the line of legal sports betting and get away with it. Perhaps Lazio’s deal with Polymarket is an indication that Italy will soon relax their strong stance against gambling advertisements since Italian clubs are missing out on massive revenue opportunities.
After the Premier League ban prohibited shirt sponsors from gambling companies in the UK, most of the top clubs have struggled to find a suitor. While clubs see Polymarket and other prediction markets as a valuable source of revenue, Serie A and other leagues are against shirt sponsorships with gambling companies.
