AGCOM Opens 30-Day Consultation on Italy's Infotainment Loophole
AGCOM has opened a 30-day consultation on tougher rules for the infotainment portals Italian gambling operators lean on to stay visible in sport. The regulator is amending the guidelines that put the Dignity Decree into practice. That's the 2018 law which banned gambling advertising and sports sponsorship outright.
Anyone who has worked the Italian market knows the loophole. The decree banned ads. AGCOM's implementing guidelines, though, let genuinely independent activities trade on a name shared with a gambling business, as long as conditions were met. Clubs and operators built commercial partnerships through associated sports news brands on that reading. Now the regulator says some of those portals have drifted into straight promotional vehicles.
Under the draft, any editorial service claiming the exemption must show an identifiable newsroom and a named responsible editor. Original content is required. So are verifiable, regular updates. Registration with the Register of Communication Operators (ROC) would be mandatory where applicable.
The separation rules are where this gets operational. Links, redirects, promotional codes and shared accounts are all out. Anything that eases a reader's path to an associated operator's gambling product is prohibited. Portals couldn't reproduce the gambling brand's visual identity either. Where a name is shared, the wording that distinguishes the editorial activity would need at least equal prominence.
Odds, bonuses, jackpots and gambling interfaces are banned from these sites. So are licence numbers, the ADM logo and gambling risk warnings. That last point is counterintuitive until you think like a compliance officer. Those markers signal a connection to a licensed gambling service, and AGCOM doesn't want the signal there at all.
Sponsorships, pitchside advertising and LED displays get particular scrutiny for indirect promotion. Paid search using gambling keywords falls under the same lens. So does advertising on comparison and review sites. Interested parties can file observations by certified email during the window, and they can request a hearing with the regulator.
The timing matters. The Meloni government is weighing a rollback of the Dignity Decree's advertising and sponsorship restrictions. Sports Minister Andrea Abodi is leading talks on a replacement sponsorship framework, but no repeal has taken effect. Those negotiations sit inside a wider investment programme for Italian football, including a proposed levy on football betting revenues to fund the professional and amateur game, youth development and infrastructure. Abodi wants agreement with the FIGC, Serie A and CONI on how football and regulated betting will relate financially going forward.
None of that political talk has changed what licensees owe today. This summer the Customs and Monopolies Agency reminded operators that communications about bonuses, rewards and prizes remain subject to AGCOM's advertising restrictions. For affiliates and media partners, the practical read is simple. If a portal's traffic depends on shared branding and a link to the sportsbook, that model is squarely in the consultation's sights. The 30-day clock is running.