On May 30th, 2025, Italy’s Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM) completed the tender dedicated to issuing concessions for remote gambling activities. The winners will be announced in early autumn. Industry analysts anticipate significant shifts in Europe’s largest market.
Moreno Marasco, the President of LOGiCO, a local iGaming association, predicts a sharp decrease in the number of operators in the country. He believes that the digital vertical in Italy may shrink by more than half in the very near future.
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Experts' Concerns and Assumptions
The previous state tender attracted 93 applications. This year, ADM received only about 50. This situation leads to a 60% reduction in the number of online platforms available in the country. The Italian iGaming segment may shrink from the current 81 participants to approximately 33.
Mr Marasco believes that such a significant decline could be critical for the industry, despite the exponential growth of operators' revenues. He calls this tendency the starting point for a full-scale transformation of the usual competitive environment.
Niche specialists agree that the main reason for the dramatic reduction in the market is ADM’s legislative initiatives. The regulator continues to tighten control over the business and raise the entry threshold for new entrepreneurs. Its first radical innovation was a fixed licence fee of €7 million. The decision predictably led to the displacement of small brands.
Fast Pace of Consolidation in the Vertical
Christian Tirabassi, the Senior Managing Partner of Ficom Leisure, a mergers and acquisitions consultancy firm, believes that Italy’s iGaming sector is behaving exactly as planned. For many years, despite being one of the richest and most successful gambling arenas, it had almost no barriers to entry for new operators. Now, the regulator is bringing the rules in line with the size of the business, filtering out non-competitive players.
Mr Tirabassi said the country has many very small companies that managed to debut in a niche with a total volume of €4 billion. Then, the turnover increased to €5 billion, but the investment asset remained unchanged, at €250,000. The regulator decided that this situation is unacceptable.
According to ADM, brands that lack financial stability should not operate in the local iGaming sector. Before the agency’s initiatives, the state had experienced relative stability over the past decade. In 2024, the gambling industry’s total dividend volume amounted to €21.6 billion, a 4.4% YoY rise. Almost ¼ of this amount, €5 billion, came from online platforms.
New Financial Requirements for Operators
ADM’s legislative initiative sets out specific amounts that companies planning to enter the Italian market must pay.
The key obligations for applicants include:
- €7 million — one-time licence fee;
- 24.5% — tax on gross revenue for internet betting;
- 25.5% — turnover charge for digital casinos;
- 3% of GGR — mandatory annual contribution;
- at least 0.2% of income — responsible gaming campaigns (maximum €1 million).
Amid such a significant tightening of rules, a series of commercial mergers and acquisitions began in the country. This trend was observed in previous years, but the agency’s recent initiative gave it a notable acceleration.
Mr Tirabassi noted that the industry would come under the control of large multi-channel enterprises, with 80% of the total gross revenue coming from only a few global brands. He is sure there will be no more than 30−35 operators registered in the country as a whole.
Raising Standards Across iGaming Structures
The government has launched a mass transformation program to consolidate the local industry, among other significant reasons.
The primary objectives include the following:
- Implementing AML tools. Efforts are being made to enhance the effectiveness of the protocols.
- Strengthening cybersecurity. The authorities aim to raise standards using modern technology.
- Improving player protection. Fresh, up-to-date measures are planned to be integrated.
These technical reforms are expected to take effect a few months after the concessions are granted. This change will put an end to the previous regulation program for the online vertical, which has been in place in the country since 2006.
Tightening User Protection Requirements
Many of the innovations are designed to minimise the risks of global digitalisation. Thus, Italian operators will have to implement an expanded set of tools to increase the level of responsible gaming.
Due to the new legislation, the following functions should appear on the portals:
- ability to set deposit limits manually;
- temporary or permanent self-exclusion service;
- regular notifications for preventing compulsive behaviour;
- preprogrammed logging out from the platform after a particular period;
- automatic termination of the session upon reaching a specified spending maximum.
Extra attention is paid to the 18−24 year age group, so entrepreneurs are required to strengthen their control over the accounts of this user category. The precedent is the 1st in the history of European gambling legislation.
Potential Leader of the Italian Web Vertical
Analysts at Jefferies, a financial services provider, believe that the Flutter corporation could capture approximately 30% of the local market’s total share. The company has already established itself in the field of consolidation: last year, an acquisition deal for Playtech’s Snaitech was successfully closed for €2.3 billion.
In 2023, the enterprise generated 15% of the Italian internet betting and casino GGR through its subsidiaries PokerStars and Sisal. The only vertical in which Flutter lost ground is lotteries. In this segment, the leader was LottoItalia, led by IGT. The supplier won the tender for the exclusive management of the local raffle industry until 2034, thanks to a record bid of €2.23 billion, amidst the starting price of €1 billion.
Reforms in the Land-Based Gaming Sector
ADM plans to undertake a comprehensive restructuring of the physical casino vertical, similar to the changes implemented in the digital niche. Programs for unifying the licensing scheme for stationary outlets are already being developed.
Among the possible requirements for operators are:
- limiting cash deposits to €100 per week;
- equipping halls with person identification systems;
- implementing a centralised self-exclusion mechanism, etc.
Consideration of legislative initiatives in this area has been postponed until mid-2026. The delay is necessary to coordinate the provisions between federal and local authorities.
Mr Tirabassi believes that only an integrated approach will help the government achieve its goal and strengthen Italy’s position as one of the most promising markets in Europe.
Operators must obtain separate permits to work in each vertical or launch subsidiary brands. These measures aim to enhance control and transparency in the industry while promoting consolidation processes. In the long term, companies that can quickly adapt to new requirements will benefit the most.
The Main Things About Gaming Reforms in Italy
The state regulator’s initiatives are aimed at completely updating all segments of the country’s gambling business.
Let us review the most significant changes that operators will have to face:
- Accelerating market consolidation. The number of active web brands in Italy may decrease to 35, which is almost 60% less than today. This situation reflects the general course towards strengthening the positions of large multi-channel firms.
- Tightening measures to protect players. Operators are obliged to expand the list of self-exclusion tools and implement automatic time and amount restrictions. A unique requirement concerns enhanced control over the accounts of users aged 18 to 24. Such a case is the 1st in European legal practice.
- Rejecting universal licences. Instead of one permit, entrepreneurs must obtain a separate certification for each vertical and brand. This model aims to enhance the transparency and security of all market processes.
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