While regulatory reforms are not uncommon when it comes to advertising guidelines for all forms of gambling and sports betting, a proposed ban is in the works in Italy. If passed the ban would prohibit any form of advertising for online gambling and online betting.
The proposed ban is brainchild of conservative parliament members, reports iGamingBusiness, while regulatory reforms have been put in place to address the still young igaming industry, a full advertising ban seems to be a bit extreme. In fact, some worry that the ban may reach beyond online only gambling, and may have a negative impact on live gambling as well.
Rome-based gambling lawyer Valérie Peano stated, “Should the bill pass as it is, the future of any form of commercial communications to promote the gambling services of a licensed operator in Italy would be heavily compromised and this would damage especially the igaming sector. This is because unlike the offline offer, it would miss out on the possibility to differentiate itself from the illegal online gambling offer.”
Another factor that must be taken into consideration, is whether or not such a ban in Italy would violate EU Treaty principles, particularly those related to freedom of services.
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