SS Lazio and Polymarket have terminated their high-profile sponsorship agreement only months after it was signed, following regulatory action in Italy that prevented the prediction market operator from continuing its planned association with the Serie A club.
Lazio confirmed on August 11 that both sides had agreed to end the partnership early after new measures introduced by Italian authorities changed the regulatory conditions surrounding the deal. Polymarket will nevertheless pay Lazio the entire amount contractually due for the 2026/27 season.
The agreement had been announced in April and was valued at more than $22 million. Polymarket became Lazio’s main shirt sponsor as well as its Fan Intelligence & Digital Insight Partner, ending a period of almost three years in which the Rome club had operated without a principal shirt sponsor. The contract was intended to run until June 2028, with the possibility of a further extension.
The partnership ran into trouble after Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency, the ADM, added Polymarket to its list of websites not authorised to provide gambling services in the country on July 10. Italian reporting subsequently indicated that access to the platform was blocked for users in Italy later that month.
Italian authorities have treated Polymarket’s prediction-market activity as falling within the country’s regulated gambling sector. That classification created a direct problem for Lazio because Italy’s 2018 Dignity Decree prohibits gambling advertising and sponsorship, including the type of front-of-shirt exposure covered by the club’s agreement.
Polymarket challenged the ADM decision before the Regional Administrative Court, arguing that its prediction markets should not be treated in the same way as conventional gambling products. However, the court declined to grant urgent interim relief while the broader case is considered, leaving the sponsorship unable to operate as originally planned ahead of the new Serie A season.
Despite the termination, Lazio will avoid losing the expected sponsorship income for the coming campaign. Polymarket has agreed to meet its full financial obligation for 2026/27, an amount reported at approximately €9.5 million.
The two organisations have also left open the possibility of working together again. Lazio said both sides intend to maintain institutional dialogue and could consider a new partnership if Italy’s regulatory framework changes in the future.
The case comes amid a wider dispute over gambling sponsorship in Italian football. Clubs and industry groups have repeatedly pushed for changes to the Dignity Decree, arguing that the advertising ban has reduced commercial revenue compared with other major European football markets. For now, however, the existing restrictions remain in force, leaving gambling-linked brands with limited options for direct sponsorship exposure in Italian sport.