At a conference discussion on Italy’s online gaming market, HBG Online managing director Luca Grisci said retail outlets remain important alongside digital channels. He said about 20% of online account top-ups are made in cash through retail locations, and warned that overly rigid rules could favour illegal operators.
The figure underlines the continuing role of retail outlets in funding online accounts in Italy.
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Eurobet Italy executive Giuliano Guinci said at SiGMA World in Rome that the government's 2027 budget intervention followed the incomplete retail-sector reorganisation. He said the bill had only just been presented and called for the reorganisation process to be completed before further discussions.
Giuliano Guinci, director of institutional affairs, sustainability and retail operations at Eurobet Italy, said the government's intervention followed the failure to complete the delegation. He spoke on the panel "Il futuro del giocatore ibrido e del mercato" at SiGMA World in Rome.
Yessica Rada, compliance representative at Global Starnet, said 662 Italian municipalities had lost access to the legal land-based gambling network between 2018 and 2025. Speaking at the 2026 Acadi Forum, she argued that opening-hour and distance restrictions affect gaming machines without effectively preventing problem gambling. Admiral Gaming Network’s Elisabetta Gregni said territorial rules had reduced the scope for new physical gambling venues by 99%.
Codere Italia business development director Marco Zega said at Enada 2026 in Rimini that Italy’s planned land-based gambling tender could create an oligopoly. He warned that this could cause problems for small and medium-sized businesses and workers in the sector, and said the retail and online tenders should have been held together.
Italy’s Council of State upheld the €100 weekly limit on cash and non-traceable account top-ups at PVR outlets. The court also maintained the prohibition on withdrawals at these shops but overturned a blanket restriction on internet-connected devices.
A Council of State ruling on Italy's top-up outlets, the PVR shops where players load cash into online gaming accounts, was published around the time of the panel. The court confirmed the ban on withdrawals at PVRs and backed the €100 weekly limit on cash and non-traceable top-ups, which has applied since May. A blanket ban on internet-connected devices in the shops was struck down as disproportionate.
Admiral Gaming Network chief executive Michele Masini warned that proposed tax increases on AWP and VLT machines in Italy’s 2027 budget could undermine the economics of the regulated retail gaming network. He cited an estimated 45% decline in amounts wagered and a fall of more than 30% in players’ net spending, and called for balanced taxation and conditions supporting equipment replacement.
Italy's 2027 budget proposes higher taxes on AWP and VLT gaming machines, a move Admiral Gaming Network chief executive Michele Masini warns could undermine the regulated retail gaming network.