Italy’s government sets 2029 end date for betting and gaming-machine concessions

Italy's 2027 budget decree provides for extending concessions for physical-network betting collection and for the telematic management of cash-prize gaming machines until 31 December 2029, according to the text of the government decree. The extension is intended to maintain continuity of gambling collection, related public-supervision functions and the associated state revenue while a structural reform of the distribution and collection of public gambling through the physical network is completed.

The extension covers betting concessions for sporting events, including horse racing, and non-sporting events, including simulated events, as well as concessions for building and operating the telematic management networks for machines regulated under article 110, paragraph 6, of the consolidated public security law (TULPS).

For betting, the decree sets an annual concession charge of €14,250 for each right relating to outlets that sell public gambling products as their main activity, including regularised collection points. For outlets that sell such products as a secondary activity, the annual amount is €8,550 for each right. The charges are to be paid to the Agenzia delle dogane e dei monopoli (ADM) in two annual instalments, due on 30 April and 31 October of each year of the extension period.

For the machine networks, covering AWP and VLT machines, the fee for the extension is set in proportion to its duration and to each concessionaire's market shares, using as reference the number of authorisation titles held or issued on 30 November 2026. For AWP machines under article 110, paragraph 6, letter a), of the TULPS, the fee is €150 for each authorisation held on 30 November 2026, covering the whole extension period. For VLT machines under letter b) of the same article, the fee is €7,500 for each right issued on the same date, also covering the whole period.

Machine-network concessionaires are to pay the amounts due in nine instalments spread over the extension period, unlike the half-yearly payments for betting. The deadlines are 15 March, 15 July and 1 October of each year, giving three payments a year through 2029.

The decree gives the ADM director the task of setting, through a specific act, the financial guarantees concessionaires must provide. For both betting and machine concessions, the guarantees are to be proportionate to the charges and the duration of the extension, applying criteria of proportionality, adequacy and sustainability.

The 31 December 2029 date is the new time horizon set by the government to maintain continuity of existing concessions pending completion of the structural reform of the land-based sector. The extension is accompanied by a system of fees and financial guarantees intended to ensure continuation of legal collection, maintenance of public supervision over the sector and protection of state revenue during the transitional phase before the concessions are reorganised.