Author Profile

Italy Sets next Stage of Gambling Overhaul With Retail Revisions

Italy expects to start a legislative overhaul of land-based gambling, progressing on the required to modernise and unify laws, standards and defenses throughout 20 self-governing areas and 110 municipalities.
Following a near two-years of settlements with regional authorities, Giorgia Meloni's federal government is anticipated to release a 'draft decree' on brand-new laws applied to the management of video gaming machine networks. Articles will use nationally to franchise operators of fruit machine, bingo halls and VLT systems.
As reported by AgiproNews, which has detailed essential settlements of the reform to SBC News, the draft decree will be sent to the Council of Ministers for review and recommendation under Italy's fiscal delegation framework.
Once approved at cabinet level, the legislation will proceed to the Joint State-Regions Conference and pertinent parliamentary committees, without any set timeline yet set for application.
The prolonged settlement process has actually been led by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), led by Deputy Minister Maurizio Leo, together with Roberto Alesse and Mario Lollobrigida, respect of President and Head of Gaming at Italy's Agency of Customs and Monopolies (ADM) - the agency supervising the betting market.
Retail follows online shakeup
Tough settlements concentrated on fixing up national regulative consistency with local level of sensitivities surrounding taxation, prospective revenue losses, payment systems and local budgeting impacts.
The land-based reform kinds part of a broader restructuring of Italy's gambling structure, which the Meloni government intentionally divided into different stages for online and retail gaming.
The first mandate prioritised the overhaul of Italy's online gaming program, which entered force in November 2025, presenting new licensing, tax and compliance requirements for digital operators.
Attention has actually now moved to the retail sector, where early indications recommend a significant rationalisation of Italy's gaming footprint tied closely to customer defense and harm-prevention objectives.
The number of outlets allowed to host slots including bars, tobacconists and video gaming halls - is expected to fall by around 10%, reducing the nationwide overall to approximately 40,000 areas.
Betting stores will remain capped at 10,000 across the country, while the longstanding difference in between specialised wagering shops and "wagering corners" within hospitality places will be abolished.
Machine numbers will also be downsized, with slots projected to decline from approximately 240,000 systems to 200,000, while VLT volumes will be reduced by around 20% - from 55,000 to 46,000 gadgets.
Protection sweep
A main pillar of the reform will be the introduction of an accreditation regime managed by the ADM. Licences and franchises will be required to show compliance with enhanced requirements on player protection, gambling damage avoidance and robust controls to prevent underage gain access to.
AgiproNews keeps in mind that the directing principles of the reform are "the gradual rationalisation of the retail network and the strengthening of customer protection across all gambling channels."
New minimum distance rules from so-called "delicate areas" will likewise be formalised, with certified venues based on a 100-metre buffer and non-certified outlets to 200 metres.
These zones will consist of secondary schools, dependency treatment centres and health center facilities - changing a regulatory patchwork that has actually long varied between areas.
The draft decree will even more enforce tighter controls on opening hours, mandating daily closure periods of 6 and a half hours for certified venues and eight hours for non-certified facilities.
Alongside the reforms, the federal government is preparing new concession tenders for gaming devices, betting and bingo operations, expected to be released by year-end and projected to create near EUR2bn in brand-new tax profits.
Big Beast market
The negotiation period accompanied a competitive combination across Italy's land-based betting sector. In 2024, a recently listed Lottomatica strengthened its retail dominance through the EUR650m acquisition of SKS365, to take control of its +1,100 PlanetWin betting/arcade franchises.