Flutter Entertainment is pulling three Betfair products from Italy: the Exchange betting exchange, Sportsbook and Casino. Regulatory changes have made the exchange business commercially unviable, the company said. Its other brands in the country — Sisal, Snai and PokerStars — stay.
'Recent regulatory changes in Italy have made the Betfair Exchange product no longer commercially sustainable. As a result, Flutter has also decided to soon discontinue the Betfair Sportsbook and Casino product in the Italian market. This represents a very small proportion of our revenue in Italy and will have no impact on our other brands or employees based in Italy,' a Flutter spokesperson said.
Italy moved to a revised online gambling framework under Legislative Decree No. 41 of March 2024. Licences are now issued per brand rather than per group, at €7 million ($7.79 million) each and valid for up to nine years. Player protection, compliance and platform operating requirements were tightened. Flutter secured five licences in September 2025, ahead of the new concessions taking effect on 13 November 2025. Under the rules, betting exchanges fall under fixed-odds betting regulation.
The Exchange model differs from a classic bookmaker: customers bet against each other, one backing an outcome and one opposing it, and the operator takes a commission on winning bets. It needs sufficient liquidity to work.
Italy remains an important market for Flutter. Sisal was acquired in 2021, Snaitech in 2024, with that deal closing in April 2025. Snai customers moved onto Sisal's technology platform in April 2026 as part of integration and cost reduction, and Sisal posted its highest market share in June. The Southern Europe and Africa division, which includes Italy, grew revenue 36% year on year to $896 million in the first half of 2026, making it the group's third-largest region.
Group second-quarter revenue rose 3% to $4.33 billion. Adjusted EBITDA fell 45% to $508 million, and Flutter posted a $296 million net loss against a $37 million profit a year earlier. The pressure came from weaker US profitability, higher marketing spending, increased UK gambling taxes, historical tax provisions in India and the US, and acquisition-related financing and depreciation costs. Flutter announced another round of cost cuts in August, and Dan Taylor took over as Group CEO from Peter Jackson on 1 October.
Italy's Finance Ministry expects €1 billion ($1.11 billion) in gambling tax revenue across 2027-2028. Flutter could bid for a proposed scratchcard concession through Sisal, against the LottoItalia consortium of Allwyn, Arianna 2001, Novomatic Italia and IGT, if the Meloni government goes ahead with the tender.
