Italy's land-based gambling network overhaul remains stuck in political deadlock and will not advance before the next general election, according to Quirino Mancini, an IMGL board member who spoke at SBC Summit in Lisbon on 30 September.
'Gambling is too sensitive an issue for any government to seriously tackle network reorganisation in the year before an election,' he said. The reform was first mentioned in the 2016 Stability Law. The technical framework is agreed: central government sets network size, density, opening hours and distance from sensitive sites, while regions and municipalities enforce. What is missing is political will.
Without legislation, courts have stepped in. Italy's Council of State recently upheld the €100 weekly cash top-up limit at PVR outlets (where players fund online accounts) and the ban on withdrawals, but struck down a blanket prohibition on internet-enabled devices in such shops. 'Where legislative power leaves a vacuum, the judiciary intervenes — and that never serves the industry well. Judges, with all due respect, mostly do not understand how this business works,' Mancini said.
For operators, dual regulation is a daily headache. Online licences run nine years; retail concessions are renewed annually. Davide Diodato, CEO of HBG Online (Novomatic), compared it to flying with two different navigation charts. Small shop owners cannot plan investment or hire staff under that uncertainty.
Land-based gambling accounts for three-quarters of the Italian market, which totals over €21 billion. Online is completing a major reform (new rules take effect 13 November), but retail still operates under rules from two decades ago. Marco Castaldo, CEO of Microgame, called the new online regime 'hyper-regulation' and noted accelerating consolidation: the top five operators control 85% of market GGR, and that share is growing.
