ACADI warns proposed 2027 PREU rise could threaten Italy’s gaming-machine network

ACADI, the Italian association of amusement-machine concession-holders, has said it is concerned about reported plans for the 2027 budget law. According to what the association said is circulating, the government intends to seek an additional one percentage point of PREU on AWP and VLT machines and a three-year extension of concessions at costs well above those of 2024. ACADI said that, if confirmed, these measures would put much of the machine network out of the market.

ACADI said the 2024 price was set on a market that no longer exists. It said player spending on machines fell 24% from 2018 to 2025 while the rest of the sector grew, the machines' share of gambling fell from 55% to 36%, and the revenue they generate declined from €6.2bn to €5.0bn. In August 2026, AWP collection was down a further 9.9% year on year, according to the association.

The association said machine accounts already do not hold up: even with the same amounts as in 2024, an average AWP and an average VLT would each close the year at a loss. A PREU increase and higher fees would turn those losses into a deficit that no operator could sustain for three years, ACADI said.

Geronimo Cardia, president of ACADI, said the association is not asking for discounts but is asking that a supply chain which guarantees the state billions in revenue each year not be shut down. He said an unsustainable levy does not increase revenue but zeroes it. ACADI said it is ready to make its full analysis available to the institutions and to discuss from the outset the measures to be included in the budget law.