Italy's budget bill proposes fifth weekly Lotto and SuperEnalotto draw

Article 29 of Italy's 2027 budget bill proposes a fifth weekly draw for Lotto and SuperEnalotto, to be held each Wednesday, according to the technical report accompanying the measure. The provision also covers the optional and complementary games linked to Lotto and SuperEnalotto. Implementation arrangements are to be set within 60 days of the law taking effect, and the technical time needed to start the new draw is estimated at about five weeks from the adoption of the relevant directoral measure.

The report estimates additional state revenue of €30.5m in 2027, of which €15.7m from Lotto and €14.8m from SuperEnalotto, and €43.1m in each of 2028 and 2029, split as €22.2m from Lotto and €20.9m from SuperEnalotto. Over the three years 2027-2029 the additional revenue is put at €116.7m. The forecast assumes a net increase in stakes of 4% against 2025 results and the start of the fifth draw during 2027.

For Lotto, the report uses 2025 results, when stakes reached €2.223bn and generated a state profit of €589.8m over 208 draws, about 26.5% of amounts staked. It applies a 25% state-profit ratio to the additional stakes. A 4% increase on the 2025 figures gives additional stakes of about €88.9m for a full year, with an estimated state profit of €22.2m; for 2027, assuming about eight and a half months of operation, additional stakes are put at €63m and state profit at €15.7m.

For SuperEnalotto and the complementary game SuperStar, stakes in 2025 were €1.664bn, with a state profit of €524.1m, about 31.5% of amounts staked. The report notes that the 2025 result was about 5% lower than the previous year, while in 2026 stakes are projected at about €1.85bn for the year. It says SuperEnalotto's performance is strongly influenced by the size of the jackpot and the frequency of wins, which make both stakes and state profit more variable. Applying a 4% increase to the 2025 base, additional stakes are estimated at €47.1m for 2027 and about €66.5m a year from 2028; at a 31.5% state-profit ratio, the government estimates additional revenue of €14.8m and €20.9m respectively.

The report cites the experience of the fourth weekly draw, introduced in 2023, extended in 2024 and made permanent from 2025. According to the data cited, that measure produced an increase in stakes of about €135m, a rise of more than 6%. For the new Wednesday draw the government takes a more cautious view: the potential increase in stakes is initially estimated at 5% against 2025, then reduced to 4% to account for possible movement of play from existing draws, particularly those on Tuesday and Thursday. An additional weekly contest would therefore not automatically produce a proportional rise in stakes, since part of the amounts played could simply be redistributed across the five days.

The report states that actual revenue will depend on how players respond, on the redistribution of bets among the weekly contests and, for SuperEnalotto, on the development of jackpots.