LOGiCO President Calls for Qualitative Ban on Misleading Gambling Ads to Replace Italy’s 2018 Blanket Prohibition

Moreno Marasco, president of the Lega Operatori di Gioco su canale Online (LOGiCO), has called for Italy to replace its blanket gambling advertising ban with targeted rules against aggressive, deceitful or misleading promotions. The prohibition, in force since 2018, has limited licensed operators’ ability to communicate without reducing consumer exposure to illegal offers, according to an exclusive interview with Focus Gaming News.

Marasco argues the measure should be evaluated on concrete results, including trends in problem gambling, minors’ exposure, illegal market expansion and consumers’ capacity to identify authorized platforms. The current approach has weakened legal market visibility while illegal operators face no equivalent constraints.

Questioning the Ban’s Measurable Results

The ban’s effectiveness remains questionable when measured against its original goals of reducing harm, protecting minors and limiting excessive exposure. "The disappearance of commercial advertising from mainstream channels is not, in itself, evidence of improved public health," Marasco stated.

LOGiCO has maintained from the start that a blanket prohibition is disproportionate. Evidence should determine whether indicators such as problem gambling rates or illegal market growth have improved, rather than assume less advertising equals less harm.

Building a Proportionate Framework Across Europe

LOGiCO proposes a qualitative ban that prohibits irresponsible advertising while permitting responsible brand communication, prevention messaging and information on safeguards for consenting adult customers. Advertising directed at minors, content appealing to children or messages linking gambling to financial solutions would stay banned.

Marasco welcomed AGCOM’s updated guidance on distinguishing prevention from promotion but said further clarity is needed on brand references, corporate communication and consistent application to provide operators with predictability. Across Europe, approaches vary widely, with only a few countries like Italy maintaining near-blanket bans.

He identified three priorities: targeting illegal operators’ payment infrastructure, advancing evidence-based consumer protection tools such as those in the EN 18144 standard on markers of harm, and increasing regulatory coordination to reduce fragmentation for multi-jurisdictional operators. A sustainable legal market requires proportionate rules that let authorized providers remain visible while enforcing high protection standards.

Italian and European policymakers should therefore focus on designs that deliver verifiable outcomes rather than broad prohibitions that distort competition between legal and illegal supply.