ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Stefano Sbordoni, Sbordoni & Partners
2. Jurisdictional Overview 2.1 Online Gambling Online gambling has been regulated in Italy by a series of laws since the late 1990s. The Decree of the Ministry of Finance No 174/1998 laid down rules for the organisation and operation of totaliser betting and fixed-odds betting on sports competitions organised by the Italian National Olym- pic Committee ( Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano , or CONI), as well as opening up new electronic and telephone-based methods of placing bets. With Law No 266/2005 (the “2006 Budget Law”), the ADM was entrusted with the task of regulating the online gaming sector; as a result, all sites that did not have the necessary permissions were banned. Law Decree No 223/2006 (the “Bersani Decree”), con- verted into Law No 248/2006, was especially impor- tant for the legalisation of online betting. It created a regulatory framework that allowed operators to offer online sports betting in Italy, but only if they held a “licence” issued by the ADM. Article 24 of Law No 88/2009 (the “Community Law 2008”) contains provisions regarding the operation and collection of online games. These provisions reiterate the principle that online games can only be offered by authorised dealers according to the pro- cedures defined by the ADM. Law No 88/2009 (also known as the “Abruzzo Law”) legalised online poker and casino games. The sector was reorganised more recently by Legis- lative Decree 41/2024 (see 1.1 Current Outlook and Recent Changes ). The decree lists the types of online public gaming that are permitted, which are: • fixed-odds betting and totaliser betting on sporting events (including horse racing); • bingo; • games of skill, including card games in tournament mode and in non-tournament mode, as well as fixed-odds games of chance; • fixed-odds betting with direct interaction between players;
• national totaliser number games; • fixed-odds number games; • instant or deferred draw lotteries; and
• further games played in virtual or digital mode (including via the metaverse) that are established and regulated by regulation. Online Betting As previously mentioned, the Bersani Decree opened up the online gaming market by creating a regula- tory framework that allowed operators to offer online sports betting in Italy, albeit only if they held a “licence/ concession” issued by the ADM. The Bersani Decree introduced more detailed rules for sports betting and remote gaming – namely: • mandatory state licensing for online offerings; • technical controls on gaming systems; and • mandatory transaction traceability. The above-mentioned Legislative Decree No 41/2024, implementing Delegated Law No Law 111/2023, intro- duces a general reorganisation of digital betting and gaming with new rules (see 1.1 Current Outlook and Recent Changes ). Online Bingo Online bingo was officially regulated by the Commu- nity Law 2008, which established the requirement for a “licence/concession” for operators wishing to offer bingo online. Subsequent ADM decrees have regu- lated various aspects of online bingo. Online Casinos Online casinos were also regulated for the first time in Italy by the Community Law 2008, which established that they could operate in Italy only on the basis of a concession issued by the ADM following a public ten- der. Subsequent decrees (in particular, the Ministerial Decree of 10 January 2011) established some specific rules to offer online casino games – namely: • the requirement for ADM authorisation/concession; • ADM controls on gaming systems; and • licensing requirements for operators.
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