Italy expects to initiate a legal overhaul of land-based gaming, moving on on the required to modernise and unify laws, standards and defenses throughout 20 self-governing regions and 110 municipalities.

Following a near two-years of negotiations with local authorities, Giorgia Meloni's government is expected to publish a 'draft decree' on new laws used to the management of video gaming maker networks. Articles will use nationally to franchise operators of slot machines, bingo halls and VLT systems.

As reported by AgiproNews, which has actually detailed crucial settlements of the reform to SBC News, the draft decree will be sent to the Council of Ministers for review and recommendation under Italy's fiscal delegation framework.

Once approved at cabinet level, the legislation will continue to the Joint State-Regions Conference and pertinent parliamentary committees, with no set timeline yet set for execution.

The prolonged negotiation procedure has actually been led by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), spearheaded by Deputy Minister Maurizio Leo, alongside Roberto Alesse and Mario Lollobrigida, respect of President and Head of Gaming at Italy's Agency of Customs and Monopolies (ADM) - the agency supervising the betting market.

Retail follows online shakeup

Tough settlements focused on fixing up national regulatory consistency with regional level of sensitivities surrounding tax, potential revenue losses, compensation systems and local budgeting effects.

The land-based reform kinds part of a wider restructuring of Italy's gaming structure, which the Meloni federal government intentionally divided into different phases for online and retail gambling.

The first mandate prioritised the overhaul of Italy's online gaming routine, which came into force in November 2025, presenting brand-new licensing, tax and compliance requirements for digital operators.

Attention has now shifted to the retail sector, where early indications recommend a considerable rationalisation of Italy's betting footprint tied closely to customer protection and harm-prevention objectives.

The variety of outlets permitted to host slot makers including bars, tobacconists and gaming halls - is expected to fall by around 10%, reducing the national total to around 40,000 locations.

Betting stores will remain capped at 10,000 nationwide, while the longstanding distinction in between specialised betting shops and "betting corners" within hospitality places will be eliminated.

Machine numbers will likewise be downsized, with fruit machine forecasted to decrease from roughly 240,000 units to 200,000, while VLT volumes will be minimized by around 20% - from 55,000 to 46,000 gadgets.

Protection sweep

A central pillar of the reform will be the introduction of an accreditation regime supervised by the ADM. Licences and franchises will be required to demonstrate compliance with enhanced standards on player protection, betting damage prevention and robust controls to avoid underage gain access to.

AgiproNews notes that the assisting concepts of the reform are "the progressive rationalisation of the retail network and the conditioning of customer security across all gambling channels."

New minimum range guidelines from so-called "sensitive locations" will likewise be formalised, with accredited locations subject to a 100-metre buffer and non-certified outlets to 200 metres.

These zones will include secondary schools, dependency treatment centres and hospital facilities - changing a regulatory patchwork that has long varied between areas.

The draft decree will further impose tighter controls on opening hours, mandating daily closure periods of six and a half hours for certified locations and 8 hours for non-certified properties.

Alongside the structural reforms, the federal government is preparing new concession tenders for gaming devices, betting and bingo operations, expected to be published by year-end and projected to create close to EUR2bn in new tax revenues.

Big Beast market

The negotiation period coincided with a competitive combination throughout Italy's land-based gambling sector. In 2024, a freshly noted Lottomatica strengthened its retail dominance through the EUR650m acquisition of SKS365, to take control of its +1,100 PlanetWin betting/arcade franchises.