Lazio's $22m Polymarket shirt deal died three months in, killed by Italy's regulator

Lazio had gone nearly three seasons without a front-of-shirt sponsor after Binance left at the end of 2022-23. In April 2026 the club ended the drought with Polymarket, signing a deal worth more than $22 million — around €19 million over the next two campaigns — with performance bonuses, running through 2028 with an option on 2028-29. The partnership was framed as 'fan intelligence and digital insight' — forecasting and content — rather than betting.

The platform held no ADM licence for Italy: users there could browse the site but not trade, with the same restrictions in France, Switzerland and Australia. On 10 July 2026 ADM, Italy's customs and monopolies agency, blacklisted Polymarket and shut its website in the country, judging it an unauthorised betting service. Polymarket's argument that it is a 'prediction market,' not a bookmaker, failed to convince the courts.

On 27 July the club removed Polymarket's logo from its website and from the jerseys in its online store — the visible end of a partnership that had lasted barely three months. The deal that had been meant to run through 2028 was gone before the 2026-27 campaign it was built for.