Stake executive says Italian online market effects await full technical rules
Regulation2 min read
Stake Italia national director Fabio Angeli Bufalini said the impact of Italy's new online gambling concession regime would be clearer once its technical rules are fully implemented. He described the first year as a transition and cited 46 companies and 52 authorised domains, compared with more than 300 previously.
Fabio Angeli Bufalini, national director of Stake Italia, said the concrete effects of Italy's new online gambling concession regime can be assessed only once the new technical rules are fully applied. He spoke on a panel titled "Il nuovo regime di gioco online in Italia: un anno dopo".
Angeli Bufalini described the first year of the regime as mainly a transition, because the technical rules had not yet been implemented. He pointed to the new limits on playing time and deposits as affecting concessionaires' operations, and said their concrete effects cannot yet be fully measured. He identified the period after 15 February as an important step in understanding the impact of the changes.
Angeli Bufalini cited a market of 46 companies and 52 domains, against more than 300 previously, according to the figures in his remarks. He said the group is satisfied with what the regulator has done. He added that the reform needs adequate operating conditions and effective protection for authorised concessionaires.
According to Angeli Bufalini, Stake is building a presence across eleven regulated markets around the world. For a foreign operator, he said, Italy ranks among the toughest markets to tackle. He said the product will decide whether operators manage to emerge in the market, since user experience and the gaming experience dominate. Angeli Bufalini concluded that grasping the full effects of the technical rules will mean waiting for the coming months and next year.