Italian retail operators call for bridging measures as land-based reform stalls
With retail concessions due to expire in ten weeks and the reorganisation decree shelved, AGSI says gaming machines, horse racing and sports betting cannot wait for new tenders.
Italy’s retail gambling sector is heading towards the end of its concessions with no reform in sight, and operators are now asking for immediate help to keep shops open in the meantime.
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. Another extension is widely expected, which would leave the network in the same holding pattern it has been in for years.
Against that backdrop, AGSI (Associazione Gestori Scommesse Italia), which represents betting shop managers, is calling for bridging measures to support gaming machines, horse racing and sports betting until new tenders are held.
“Gaming machines, horse racing and betting cannot wait three years,” AGSI president Pasquale Chiacchio told Italian trade outlet Jamma.
Two speeds
The gap between Italy’s online and retail channels is widening. The online market is already running 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, yet its reform has not started.
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.
“Gambling is a very sensitive issue,” he said, adding that this was why reform had stalled.
Mancini noted 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.
Operators feel the effects every day. Davide Diodato, CEO of Novomatic-owned HBG Online, told 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.
Players moving online
Chiacchio argues that customers are moving to online play, which is available around the clock with more products and promotions, while shops remain bound by distance rules, opening-hours limits and permit requirements. Operators’ commercial investment, he says, is going online too, leaving shops with rising costs and falling revenue.
The pressure is showing in tax receipts. 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.
What AGSI wants
AGSI wants the transition period used to make shops more attractive, including new products sold through agencies and authorised outlets. Chiacchio points to the 1998-1999 trial that first brought sports betting into horse racing agencies as a precedent.
The association also wants a consultation table with government, institutions and industry to begin drafting tender rules now. It is calling for those rules to let small and medium-sized businesses bid alongside larger groups, and for a more evenly distributed national network with trained staff, citing Campania’s regional law as a model.
Chiacchio warned that a shrinking legal network would hand ground to illegal operators. He argues enforcement should target the black market rather than add restrictions on licensed shops.
AGSI is not alone in its frustration. Operators’ association AGIC, whose members include Flutter, Lottomatica, Entain and Bet365, has said repeated extensions have left the retail market without long-term certainty for nearly a decade.