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The tendering procedures for the award of both Italian online gaming licenses and betting shop licenses are about to be launched. Are interested parties ready to apply?
The major changes of the Italian gaming market in 2016 are about to take place:
Tendering for online gaming licenses very soon
120 new online gaming licenses shall be awarded as part of procedures which are expected to be launched by the end of July 2016. I updated the FAQs on the requirements applicable to online gaming licenses which will cover all the games that can currently be offered under an Italian license i.e.
- sportsbetting,
- horsebetting,
- casino,
- poker,
- skill games, which include fantasy sport and eSports,
- bingo,
- betting on virtual events and
- betting exchange.
Also, license holders will be entitled to act as reseller of totalizator games and games subject of an exclusive license such as lotto, scratch cards and superenalotto.
Possible delays for betting shop licenses
While no delays are expected for the award of online licenses, there might be some delays for the award of
- 10,000 betting shop licenses which will have an initial bidding price of EUR 32,000 and
- 5,000 betting corner licenses which will have an initial bidding price of EUR 18,000.
The potential delay is due to the lack of agreement reached between the Government and the local municipalities as to the time of operation and the distances between betting shops/gaming halls and sensitive places (e.g. churches, schools, hostitals). Indeed, at the moment each municipality or region in Italy has its own rules on the matter which makes quite difficult the handling of the business for operators. The above mentioned agreement has on the contrary the purpose to identify unique rules that shall apply across the whole country.
The delay is not expected in any case to take too long as the purpose of the Government is to cash in the funds deriving from the award of the licenses during the course of 2016.
What to do now?
Technical developments required by Italian gaming regulations prevent operators to just see and wait. If operators want to be ready to launch as soon as they receive the licenses, they should already start working on their platforms. Also, bear in mind that Italian gaming regulations set strict deadlines for the launch of the platform that therefore cannot be held and never activated as such practice is punished with penalties.
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