Gambling Content Policy

Last updated: May 2026 · Author: Giovanni Picaro, Editor & Publisher

1. Why this page exists

Football and gambling are commercially intertwined — betting markets exist for every meaningful match, and betting-operator advertising has been a major revenue source for football media globally. In Italy specifically, this commercial relationship has been substantially constrained by regulation since 2018. As an Italian-operated football publication, Football Insider operates within that regulatory framework. This page documents how.

The page is also a positive editorial-standards document: even where Italian regulation does not formally apply (international audience, broader EU and US readership), our editorial standards exclude gambling-promotional content. The reasons are documented below.

2. The Italian Decreto Dignità framework

The Italian Decreto-legge 12 luglio 2018, n. 87 (“Decreto Dignità”), converted into law by Legge 9 agosto 2018, n. 96, contains the framework that constrains gambling-product advertising in Italy. The relevant provisions:

Article 9 — Divieto di pubblicità giochi e scommesse

Article 9 of the Decreto bans, with limited exceptions:

• “Qualsiasi forma di pubblicità, anche indiretta, relativa a giochi o scommesse con vincite di denaro” — any form of advertising, including indirect advertising, of games or bets with money winnings.
• The ban covers television, radio, print, internet (including web sites), social media, sponsorships, and any other communication channel.
• Exceptions exist for: state lottery products, certain horse-racing communications under specific conditions, and contexts where the advertising is incidental to other lawful communications.

The penalty regime is significant: violations can be fined up to 20% of the value of the advertising, with a minimum of €50,000.

Enforcement

Enforcement is by AGCOM (Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni) for communications-platform issues, with cooperation from ADM (Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli) for the underlying gambling-regulation context. AGCOM has issued specific guidance on the Decreto Dignità’s application to digital advertising (Delibera n. 132/19/CONS and subsequent updates), which Football Insider’s framework reflects.

Interpretation

The Decreto Dignità has been interpreted strictly. Specifically:

• Display ads featuring bookmaker brands are prohibited.
• Affiliate links to bookmaker websites are considered advertising and are prohibited.
• Editorial mentions of specific bookmakers are scrutinized for promotional intent; the legitimate-news-coverage exception applies but is limited.
• Sponsored content from bookmakers is prohibited.
• Brand placement of bookmakers in non-advertising contexts has been treated as advertising in some enforcement cases.

3. Football Insider’s compliance approach

Our approach to compliance is conservative — we apply tighter standards than the strict legal floor, to leave clear margin for the inevitable interpretive ambiguity:

What we do not do

• No display advertising of bookmakers, gambling operators, or affiliate networks. Our display-advertising network (Google AdSense; Mediavine where eligible) is configured to exclude betting and gambling categories at the publisher account level, applied site-wide.
• No affiliate links to bookmakers. We do not participate in any betting-operator affiliate program. Our affiliate categories are documented on Affiliate Disclosure and exclude all gambling.
• No registration prompts or “scommetti ora” / “bet now” CTAs. Articles contain no calls-to-action toward gambling products.
• No promotional codes, bonus offers, or “free bet” framing.
• No bookmaker logo placement or brand integration in editorial content beyond what is required for legitimate news reporting.
• No betting tips, “lock of the day”, “value pick”, or tipster-style content. The Site has no betting-tip product, free or paid.
• No sponsored content from gambling operators. We do not accept gambling-industry sponsorship of any editorial product.
• No “responsible gambling sponsorship” arrangements with operators. Genuine responsible-gambling resources (state-funded helplines, NGO-operated services) are referenced editorially without any commercial relationship.

What we do do

• Display betting odds editorially as informational sports data, in match-preview articles and transfer-market market-context articles, without promotional framing. Where odds are mentioned, they are mentioned in the same way as historical match results, statistical data, or other sports-market data — as factual reference material.
• Reference specific bookmakers by name in legitimate editorial contexts (e.g., reporting on a bookmaker’s regulatory issue, reporting on a major sports-sponsorship deal involving a bookmaker, reporting on industry developments). Such references are journalism, not advertising.
• Cover the gambling industry’s intersection with football journalistically — UEFA’s relationships with gambling sponsors, the regulatory frameworks evolving across European jurisdictions, the public-health discourse around football and gambling, the player-protection issues around match-fixing investigations. These are legitimate news topics.
• Display responsible-gambling resources prominently — in the footer of every page, repeated contextually where odds are referenced.

4. The editorial reasoning beyond legal compliance

Even if Italian regulation did not constrain us, our editorial standards would exclude gambling promotion. The reasons:

• Public-health context. Problem gambling is a documented public-health issue with serious consequences for affected individuals and families. The football-and-gambling commercial axis has been a contributor to the normalization of betting that drives the problem. Our editorial position is that football journalism has an obligation not to participate in that normalization beyond what is necessary for legitimate coverage.
• Reader trust. A football publication that runs bookmaker affiliate links has a structural conflict of interest with editorial content involving betting markets. Excluding bookmaker affiliates is the cleanest way to maintain reader trust.
• Editorial focus. Our editorial product is football journalism. Tipster content is a different product, with different reader expectations and different regulatory frameworks. We do not pretend to be both.
• AdSense and Mediavine adjacency. AdSense and Mediavine policies treat gambling content as adjacent to disqualifying. Maintaining clean separation supports our advertising-revenue model.
• Younger reader protection. Football’s audience includes minors. Gambling-promotional content shaped to appear adjacent to football is a documented child-protection concern; we take it seriously.

5. Responsible-gambling resources

For readers who do gamble, or who are concerned about their own or someone else’s gambling, the resources we point to:

Italy

• Telefono Verde Antidroga e per i problemi di gioco d’azzardo: 800 558 822 (Italian Ministry of Health helpline, free, anonymous).
• Giocaresponsabile: giocaresponsabile.it — FeDerSerD-affiliated awareness and support resource.
• Local SerD (Servizi per le Dipendenze) attached to ASL services in each Italian region.

UK

• GamCare: 0808 8020 133, gamcare.org.uk
• BeGambleAware: begambleaware.org
• National Gambling Helpline: 0808 8020 133.

U.S.

• National Council on Problem Gambling: 1-800-522-4700, ncpgambling.org.

EU broader

• EASG (European Association for the Study of Gambling): easg.org for academic and policy resources.

6. Reader engagement

If you encounter content on the Site that you believe violates this policy — for example, an ad slipping through that should have been excluded, or editorial content that reads as bookmaker promotion — please report to editor [at] footballinsider [punto] store. We treat such reports as priority editorial issues.

7. Updates

This policy is reviewed:

• When Italian regulation evolves (Decreto Dignità interpretation, AGCOM guidance updates, related regulatory developments).
• When EU-level frameworks change (the EU has been considering broader gambling-advertising restrictions; updates would be reflected here).
• When AdSense / Mediavine policy on gambling-adjacent content updates.
• When operational experience identifies a gap in our compliance approach.

Updates are dated. Material changes are described in the version history.

Related pages: Editorial Standards · Affiliate Disclosure · Editorial Independence · Ethics · Disclaimer