Italy's stance on gambling advertising has just taken a radical turn after the country's new government announced the finalization and adoption of the so-called Dignity Decree that will effectively see all gambling advertising and sponsorship outlawed!
This ban will not take effect until January 1, 2019 when its application will begin and it will not spare any form of advertising related to gambling with money via all channels, namely TV, radio, internet, public events, press and other means of communication. Also, betting and gambling companies will no longer be able to provide their sponsorship services. The fine for disobeying this Decree will begin at €50,000 and extend to 5% of the value of the advertising or sponsorship. However, there will also be €100,000 to €500,000 penalties for those operators who advertise gambling services along with programs aimed at young and underage population. The money collected through fines and penalties will then be invested into gambling-related harm prevention programs.
Naturally, this new Decree does not sit well with operators who are performing in Italy. One of them, LeoVegas, has even issued a statement saying that the adoption of this ban is a direct violation of freedoms to do business as stated in the country's constitution. One point that they make is that it was the country's government (one of the previous ones, must be said) that provided licenses to operators after deeming that their work does not harm society in any way. LeoVegas also feels that this will not solve the gambling problems but will only create a surge in gambling advertising by those operators who do not have Italy's gambling license. We will see hot this will affect the iGaming companies who have just recently obtained Italian license.
What do you think of this move by the Italian government? Do you think radical cuts like these can help in any way? Shout it out in the comments…
Source:
“Italy gambling advertising ban targets January 1, 2019 start”, Stradbrooke Steven, calvinayre.com, June 27, 2018.