Italy’s Top Court Weighs Fixed EUR 50K Gambling Ad Fine

Italy’s Constitutional Court held a public hearing on 24 June 2026 on whether AGCOM can keep applying a fixed EUR 50,000 minimum fine for each gambling advertising breach. The case, Reg. ord. n. 18/2026, stems from a Regional Administrative Court of Lazio ordinance issued on 29 July 2025, published in the Official Gazette on 18 February 2026. Judge Antonella Sciarrone Alibrandi is rapporteur.

At issue is Article 9, paragraph 2 of Decree Law No. 87 of 2018, the Decreto Dignità, converted into Law No. 96 of 2018. The decree introduced Italy’s near total ban on gambling advertising to fight gambling addiction. The original 2018 text set the fine at 20% of the value of the sponsorship or advertising campaign, with a floor of EUR 50,000 per violation. Some industry sources report the ceiling can reach EUR 500,000 per breach. AGCOM, the Italian communications regulator, enforces the rule.

The dispute, A.C. v AGCOM, began after AGCOM fined a content creator EUR 157,000 over gambling related videos on YouTube and Twitch that included banners redirecting users to betting sites. The Lazio TAR argued the fixed floor may breach Articles 3, 42, 11 and 117 of the Italian Constitution, along with EU and ECHR property and proportionality protections.

According to Jamma’s report from the hearing, lawyer Alfonso Vuolo told the court the rule is unreasonable because it ignores the offender’s financial position and actual profit. He argued that removing the EUR 50,000 floor alone would not create a legal vacuum, since the 20% calculation would still apply on its own.

State lawyer Melvio Maugeri defended the floor in a separate Jamma report, arguing it protects the deterrent force of the ad ban. Without a minimum, he said, the 20% rule could become a manageable cost for companies or affiliates profiting from illegal promotion. The Constitutional Court had not issued a ruling at the time of writing.

💡 TGJ Take

This case targets the fine structure, not the ad ban itself. A ruling against the EUR 50,000 floor would not reopen Italy’s gambling advertising market, but it would force AGCOM toward case by case calculation under the existing 20% rule. Small affiliates and content creators currently face the same minimum penalty as a major sponsorship campaign, and that gap is the real legal weakness here. If the floor falls, fine amounts should start tracking actual ad value and profit, which lowers exposure for low budget promotions but changes nothing for operators running illegal campaigns at scale.