Banned but Branded: Why Polymarket Is Paying $22M to Sponsor Lazio Despite Italy Ban

• Polymarket lands first-ever team sponsorship with Serie A club Lazio
  
• Deal highlights clash between Italian gambling laws and sponsorship strategies
  
• Global exposure outweighs lack of access for Italian users

Prediction giant Polymarket is leaping into the mainstream with a $22 million front-of-jersey partnership with Italian soccer powerhouse S.S. Lazio.

This is despite the platform itself not being accessible to Italian users. The Italian Agency for Customs and Monopolies (ADM) blacklisted the site in October 2025, and Italian regulators consider the prediction market to be unlicensed, illegal gambling.

It’s also notable that gambling advertising is banned in Italy. The country’s 2018 “Dignity Decree” prohibited all advertising and sponsorships for gambling games with cash winnings, a law that has heavily impacted the finances of soccer clubs.

Don’t Mention Prediction Platforms

It’s unsurprising, then, that Polymarket’s official statements on the deal do not mention prediction markets at all. The company is positioning itself as Lazio’s “official fan intelligence and digital insight partner” in an effort to develop new forms of “interaction between sports, data and technology.”

Lazio represents a historic institution with a forward-looking vision,” said Polymarket chief marketing officer Matthew Modabber. “We are proud to collaborate with a club that shares our approach to innovation and the enhancement of data, with the aim of building new experiences and new models in the world of sport.”

Lazio president Claudio Lotito described Polymarket as “is a partner that interprets the future, capable of reading and analyzing trends with innovative tools,” adding that the deal helps position the team as “increasingly modern, open, and competitive entity in the new landscape of global sport.”

The deal is effective immediately, and Lazio players were seen sporting the Polymarket logo on their chests during the team’s game against Napoli on Saturday.

Gambling or Not?

Prediction markets argue they are not gambling products but financial trading platforms, where users buy and sell contracts tied to real-world outcomes rather than placing bets against a bookmaker. Both parties will hope Italian regulators agree with that theory, which is currently being tested by regulators and courts across the United States.

The Italian Government is currently assessing possible revisions to the gambling ban, which could result in controlled gambling advertising and sponsorships for licensed operators, and this could also include the return of gambling brands to sports jerseys.

In the meantime, soccer clubs appear willing to exploit any available loopholes.