Italy’s gambling market is running two rulebooks and waiting for politicians to write a third. At SBC Summit in Lisbon, industry leaders said land-based reform was unlikely before the next general election, as a Council of State ruling reshaped rules for top-up outlets. The stakes are not small: retail accounts for roughly three-quarters of a market worth more than €21 billion, according to the account of the panel published by iGaming Business.
That leaves businesses balancing court decisions, changing online rules and a retail network still operating without the promised overhaul. For esports fans who follow betting markets, the immediate story is not a verified esports-specific restriction; it is the broader uncertainty facing licensed gambling operators in Italy.
A decade of reform stuck in the lobby
The first reference to reorganising Italy’s retail gambling network dates back to the 2016 Stability Law. Quirino Mancini, co-founder and executive committee member of IMGL, told the summit panel he could not see a government tackling the issue before the election, given gambling’s political sensitivity.
The technical division of labour is largely mapped out: central government would determine network size, density, opening hours and distances from sensitive sites, with regions and municipalities responsible for implementation. The holdup, Mancini said, is political rather than logistical. Meanwhile, retail reform has yet to begin, while a sweeping online overhaul is moving ahead, with new rules due to take effect on 13 November.
The courts get the controller
The Council of State ruling concerns PVRs, shops where players can add cash to online gaming accounts. The court upheld a €100 weekly cap on cash and non-traceable top-ups, in force since May, and confirmed that players cannot withdraw money at these outlets.
But it struck down a blanket ban on internet-connected devices inside PVRs, finding the restriction disproportionate. That split decision is a neat illustration of the problem: when lawmakers leave gaps, judges end up deciding how operators can function. It is a familiar fault line in gambling regulation, where court rulings on gambling promotions can also shape what promotional channels are allowed to do.
The uncertainty is especially awkward for companies running both online and retail operations. Davide Diodato, CEO of Novomatic-owned HBG Online, described the mismatch between nine-year online licences and retail concessions extended one year at a time. For small shopkeepers, that annual reset makes it harder to plan investment or hiring when the next year’s rules remain unclear.
Big operators have the better endgame
Online regulation brings a different squeeze. Microgame CEO Marco Castaldo described the new regime as hyper-regulation and said the top five operators account for 85% of market GGR, or gross gaming revenue, with their share likely to rise. Larger companies buying rivals may gain ground, while smaller operators face pressure to merge if they want the scale to compete.
There is another imbalance: licensed operators cannot advertise bonuses, while unregulated sites promote them freely on social media, according to Stake Italy country director Fabio Bufalini’s panel comments. That is a rough competitive lane for regulated businesses, but the panel did not frame retail as a dying format. Instead, speakers described shops evolving into places for assistance, community and customer retention alongside online products.
That distinction matters for gaming audiences: a national gambling rulebook can change the options around betting, but the panel’s discussion does not establish a specific outcome for esports betting. France’s separate restrictions on esports betting at the Esports World Cup show how sharply national approaches can differ, rather than proving Italy will follow the same path.
