7 Countries Restricting Football Betting Sponsorships
Seven countries now restrict football betting sponsorships, from Italy's statutory advertising ban to the Premier League's front-of-shirt agreement for 2026/27.
Seven countries now restrict football betting sponsorships in different ways, from Italy's statutory advertising ban to the Premier League's decision to end front-of-shirt gambling deals from 2026/27. The rules below are taken from official legal texts, regulator pages or league statements. This is a policy list, not a ranking of shirt-sponsor fees.
Key facts
- There is no single European Union ban. National rules range from a near-total advertising prohibition in Italy to limits on where a brand may appear on a shirt.
- The United Kingdom entry is a Premier League club agreement, not an Act of Parliament. Sleeve and other betting inventory can still be sold, subject to the existing advertising codes.
- This list is not a club-by-club shirt-sponsor table. The live Premier League shirt-sponsors guide covers those deals separately.
- Brazil is not numbered here, because a complete in-force sponsorship ban has not been used as the basis for this list. The commercial risk around that market is covered in our earlier Brazil betting-ban report. The 85 operators on Brazil's official betting register and the TCE-MG decision upholding a R$32m club-sponsorship suspension are covered separately.
| No. | Country | What is restricted | Source of the rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | Ban on gambling advertising and sponsorship, including shirts | Dignity Decree, Decree-Law 87/2018, Article 9 |
| 2 | Spain | Ban on gambling brands on shirts and kit, and on naming teams, venues or competitions | Royal Decree 958/2020 |
| 3 | Netherlands | Ban on sports sponsorship by licensed online gambling operators, from 1 July 2025 | Kansspelautoriteit, remote-gambling advertising decree |
| 4 | Belgium | Front-of-shirt gambling branding banned from 1 January 2025, with tight size limits on other kit placements | Gaming Commission, Royal Decree of 27 February 2023 |
| 5 | Germany | Only umbrella-brand advertising on shirts and boards, not direct gambling-product promotion | Interstate Treaty on Gambling (Glücksspielstaatsvertrag) |
| 6 | India | Ban on advertising or promoting online money games, including sponsorships that promote those products | Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 |
| 7 | United Kingdom | Premier League clubs agreed to end front-of-shirt gambling sponsorships from 2026/27; not a statutory ban | Official Premier League statement |
1. Italy
Italy has the most comprehensive statutory ban in this list. Article 9 of Decree-Law 12 July 2018, n. 87, known as the Dignity Decree, and later converted into law, prohibits advertising of games and betting, including sponsorship. In practice, that has kept gambling brands off Serie A shirts and other Italian football inventory covered by the ban. The rule is a government measure, not a league voluntary code, which is why Italy sits first in this policy list: the restriction is the widest in legal scope, not the largest in lost fees, which are not ranked here.
2. Spain
Spain's Royal Decree 958/2020 restricts commercial communications for gambling. The decree prohibits gambling sponsorship on sports shirts and other kit, and it also stops an operator's name or brand being used to identify a sports venue or added to the name of a team or a sporting competition. Sponsorship inside venues is further limited by the rules that govern audiovisual gambling advertising. The measure is not a ban on every possible commercial relationship, but it removes the most visible football placements, including front-of-shirt deals.
3. Netherlands
The Dutch Gambling Authority, the Kansspelautoriteit, states that from 1 July 2025 sponsorship by licensed online gambling operators is no longer permitted. The authority says the restriction applies to the sponsorship of athletes, teams, clubs and competitions, as well as to shirts, billboards and other promotional material. The official page is clear that the ban applies to holders of online gambling licences, rather than to every form of gambling business. A two-year transition followed an earlier 2023 restriction on untargeted remote-gambling advertising, and that transition ended on 1 July 2025.
4. Belgium
Belgium's Gaming Commission says that, under the Royal Decree of 27 February 2023, sports sponsorship by gambling operators may no longer be displayed on the front of sportswear from 1 January 2025, and that the permitted surface area on other placements may not exceed 75 square centimetres. The Commission also says such advertising is prohibited at the place where the sport is practised. A later tightening, pointing towards a wider professional-sport sponsorship ban from 1 January 2028, has been discussed in official materials; this entry records the front-of-shirt rule already in force since 1 January 2025, which is the restriction that now shapes Belgian club shirts.
5. Germany
Germany has not imposed an Italy-style total ban. The Interstate Treaty on Gambling, the Glücksspielstaatsvertrag, allows sports advertising for gambling operators only in limited form, commonly described as umbrella-brand advertising on shirts and perimeter boards rather than direct promotion of a betting product. The result is a restriction, not a disappearance, of betting brands in the Bundesliga and elsewhere in German football. Shirt fronts may still carry a corporate umbrella brand where the treaty conditions are met, which is why Germany is included as a country that restricts, rather than one that has removed, football betting sponsorship.
6. India
India's Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, published by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, prohibits advertising or promoting online money games, including in a form that would cover sponsorships used to promote those products. The official Act is the source for this entry. That legal change is broader than football, but it is directly relevant to betting and real-money gaming brands on Indian club or league inventory, including around the MG Indian Super League title deal, which is a car-maker partnership rather than a betting title sponsorship.
7. United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has no statutory ban on betting shirt sponsorships that matches Italy's decree. From the 2026/27 season, however, Premier League clubs have agreed not to display gambling sponsorship on the front of matchday shirts, according to the league's official statement. The agreement took effect after the 2025/26 season. Gambling brands may still appear on sleeves and in other inventory, subject to the existing advertising and gambling rules. The six Premier League clubs still carrying betting brands on their sleeves in 2026/27 are listed in our betting-sleeve sponsors guide. This is a league restriction, not a government ban, and it is one of the issues that sits around, but is separate from, the work of the Independent Football Regulator.
Methodology and last updated
This list covers seven countries in which an official legal text, a national regulator, or a formal league statement restricts football betting sponsorships as of 12 November 2026. The numbered order follows the legal breadth of the restriction, starting with statutory advertising bans, not the estimated commercial value of lost deals. Reported or unofficial fee effects are not used as a ranking measure. The United Kingdom is included because the Premier League's front-of-shirt agreement is in force for 2026/27, and the text makes clear that it is not a statute. Countries with only general advertising standards, or with bills that have not become law, are omitted. Last updated: 12 November 2026.
Sources
- Italy, Decree-Law 12 July 2018, n. 87 (Dignity Decree), Article 9, official gazette record (13 July 2018)
- Spain, Royal Decree 958/2020, official state gazette (3 November 2020)
- Netherlands Gambling Authority, official sponsorship page, online-operator ban from 1 July 2025 (Kansspelautoriteit)
- Belgium Gaming Commission, official sports-sponsorship page, front-of-shirt ban from 1 January 2025 (Gaming Commission)
- India, Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, official MeitY text (2025)
- Premier League official statement on gambling sponsorship, front-of-shirt restriction from 2026/27 (Premier League)