Italy’s bookmakers face a less uncertain future now that Italian government ministers have agreed to extend gaming concessions until 2024. The licenses had been due to expire this year, putting the bookmakers in what some called, “licensing purgatory.”
The Parliament chose to override gaming regulator ADM, whose review of license concessions ran into difficulties and saw several betting franchises, such as Snaitech and Lottomatica, waiting for their licenses to be re-approved before they could open their shops.
Parliament granted the extensions with the understanding that during those two years the sector will be reorganized—as has been demanded by the Ministry of the Economy and Finance. Each franchise is required to pay an annual fee of €7,500 per franchise, with an upper cap of 5,755 shops.
The Ministry has not yet submitted its proposed Gambling Reorganization Bill, which would require the approval of Parliament. It has proposed to reduce the number of shops and concentrate them with “concentrated safe environments.”
It also wants to require operators to limit how much time patrons spend wagering, and how much they bet.
