Test – Applications open for new Italian online gambling licences
The Italian regulator has published the tender of new online gambling licences following EU approval
Italy.- The tender for new online gambling licences in Italy has finally been published following European Union Approval. The application window will run until May 30, 2025, and licences are expected to be granted within nine months of the tender’s publication.
The green light from the European Commission (EC) had been held up after the Malta Gambling Authority (MGA) submitted a detailed opinion on B2B technicalities, leading to an extension of the standstill period. However, the EC has now given its blessing to the proposed regulations. The tender has been published in the European Gazette and on the institutional website of the Italian regulator, ADM.
The regime introduces new nine-year online gambling licences, each covering up to five concessions. Licences will cost €7m, payable in two instalments: €4m on the award and €3m on the launch of operations, which must happen within six months of a concession’s approval. Operators will also be charged a 3 per cent operating fee.
Applicants must meet eligibility criteria, which include a need to demonstrate proven expertise in operating gaming platforms in the European Economic Area (EEA), the presence of a legal or operational headquarters in an EEA country and the ability to show revenue exceeding €3m over the last two fiscal years.
Applicants must also submit a €750,000 surety bond through an authorised financial institution as a provisional guarantee. A final guarantee of €3.7m for 2025 will also be required and further guarantees will include a fixed quota of €500,000 and a variable component based on performance. Operators will also have to pay a €560 fee to the anti-corruption body the ANAC.
Doubts about Italy’s online gambling tender
The ADM expects around 50 operators to apply for licences, generating revenue of €350m from licence fees and €100m a year from concession fees. However, the gaming industry has raised doubts about the new regime, and the publication of the tender so close to Christmas means operators will probably be left waiting for answers.
The big questions related to the technical extension of the current licensing regime and questions about what will happen to companies who fail to obtain a new concession. Operators also have doubts about whether the ADM will issue responses to questions in time for them to make the May deadline.
The launch of the new licensing process marks the completion of the first phase of the planned gambling reforms in Italy. Progress on reforming the land-based gambling sector has been slower. The ADM hopes to advance in 2025 with the planned standardisation of federal regulations for land-based gambling. Negotiations with regional governments continue.
Meanwhile, Roberto Alesse, the director of the ADM has pledged to review Italy’s ban on gambling ads in the new year. He told La Verità that the current ban on gambling adverts was a “hypocritical regulation” and was not appropriate for “a liberal state”. The ban was introduced in the Dignity Decree of 2018.
