Argentinian senator pushes to ban betting brands from sports venues

Malena Galmarini, a Senator for Buenos Aires Province filed a bill this week that would prohibit gambling companies from sponsoring sports clubs operating within the province. 

The proposal covers logos and brand identifiers on team kits, venue signage and facilities, and extends to any commercial property within 100 meters of a sports venue.

The measure applies to municipal sports centers, professional and amateur soccer stadiums, and other organized sporting venues. Enforcement would fall under the provincial Sports Undersecretary, with coordination from the Consumer Protection Undersecretary and the Provincial Children and Adolescents Agency. 

If passed, municipalities would handle on-the-ground compliance, while the Provincial Lottery and Casinos Institute would handle the technical identification of operators subject to the ban.

Galmarini said: "The object is not to prohibit the gaming industry or its advertising in general terms, but to protect a specific and particularly sensitive space: the community sporting environment, frequented by girls, boys, adolescents and families."

Penalties under the bill range from formal warnings to fines of between 500 and 50,000 penalty units, currently equivalent to around ARS 2,215 ($2) each, with the provincial Executive also empowered to suspend or revoke advertising licenses.

She also said: "The project pursues substantial interests such as public health and the protection of childhood against problem gambling; and it is a proportionate initiative, since it does not prohibit the activity or its advertising in general, it only removes it from the community sporting environment."

The bill draws on precedents from Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium, all of which have imposed restrictions on betting sponsorships in sport. In Argentina, the national Rugby Union (UAR) moved to self-regulate in 2024, barring betting brands from its competitions. 

At the club level, Boca Juniors and River Plate currently feature Betsson and Codere, respectively, on their first-team kits, while the 2024 domestic league season was commercially branded as the Torneo Betano under an AFA-wide deal.

A similar proposal was brought to the national Congress two years ago, and in February 2026 the Chamber of Deputies created a dedicated gaming and gambling prevention commission to process dozens of pending bills on the topic, though its members have yet to be formally appointed.