Italian retail gambling operators call for bridging measures as concession reform stalls

Italy’s retail gambling network is heading toward the end of its concessions with no reorganisation decree in place, and operators are asking for stopgap measures before the next round of tenders. For PSPs and acquirers exposed to land-based gaming, the immediate issue is not reform in the abstract; it is whether shops, machines and betting counters keep operating while Rome keeps the file parked.

1. Concessions for betting, bingo, AWPs and VLTs expire on 31 December 2026. The decree meant to reorganise the land-based market and set the terms for new tenders was shelved in August and missed the government’s 29 August deadline, with another extension widely expected. In practice, that leaves the retail network in the same holding pattern it has been in for years.
2. Against that backdrop, AGSI (Associazione Gestori Scommesse Italia), which represents betting shop managers, is calling for bridging measures to keep gaming machines, horse racing and sports betting going until new tenders are held. “Gaming machines, horse racing and betting cannot wait three years,” AGSI president Pasquale Chiacchio told Italian trade outlet Jamma.
3. The split between Italy’s online and retail channels is getting wider. The online market is already operating under its new concession framework, with further rules taking effect on 13 November. Retail still makes up roughly three-quarters of a market worth more than €21 billion, but its reform has not started.
4. At SBC Summit in Lisbon last month, IMGL co-founder Quirino Mancini said he did not expect any government to tackle the retail reorganisation in the year before Italy’s next general election, whatever its political colour. He said gambling is a very sensitive issue and that this is why reform has stalled.
5. Mancini added that reorganising the network was first referenced in the 2016 Stability Law, around ten years ago, and that the technical framework is largely agreed. The obstacle, he argued, is political rather than regulatory. Davide Diodato, CEO of Novomatic-owned HBG Online, said on the same panel that online licences run for nine years while retail concessions are extended year by year, making it hard for shopkeepers to invest or hire.

Chiacchio also says customers are moving to online play, which is available around the clock with more products and promotions, while shops remain constrained by distance rules, opening-hours limits and permit requirements. He argues that operators’ commercial investment is following the same path, leaving retail outlets with rising costs and falling revenue. The pressure is already visible in the tax line: total gaming tax revenue fell 6.3% to €3.64 billion in the first half of 2026, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.