At the end of the year, the Italian gambling sector received promising news with an announcement that the restrictions imposed by the Dignity Decree on gambling advertising and sponsorships will undergo a review in 2025.
During an interview with La Verità, Roberto Alesse, the Director General of the ADM, criticized the Dignity Decree as a “hypocritical regulation” that “cannot be applied by a liberal state.”
The discussion shed light on the role of the ADM in Italy’s economic development, as the agency regulates sectors like customs duties, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and energy consumption—areas crucial to the 2025 budget.
The ADM has completed its second year of reforms under the ‘National Conservative’ program spearheaded by PM Giorgia Meloni. In 2023, Roberto Alesse succeeded ‘conservative hardliner’ Marcello Minenna to lead the agency’s overhaul.
With key directives secured for 2024, Alesse informed La Verità that the ADM is prepared to introduce a new licensing structure for online gambling as well as a new lottery tender soon. These initiatives are pivotal as they mark the first comprehensive regulatory review of Italian gambling since online gambling licenses were first approved in 2011.
Notable modifications include implementing a new licensing arrangement for Italy, imposing a €7 million authorization fee per online gambling license, alongside a concessionaire operating fee of 3%.
Alesse’s comments about upcoming proceedings on reforms for ‘gambling networks’ (retail and land-based establishments) caught attention.
Currently, the ADM awaits approval of a “preparatory text” that was crafted with Minister Maurizio Leo and the State-Regions Conference. This will introduce consistent laws nationwide to combat illegal gambling effectively.
Alesse further indicated hopes that these reforms will reassess and possibly amend the Dignity Decree, applied to the Italian gambling sector since 2018. He suggested that the reforms aim at aligning with European standards, eliminating excessive restrictions on legal gambling which inadvertently supports illegal activity bans.
Since 2019, Italy has seen a broad ban on gambling advertising and sponsorships across all platforms, introduced by the Dignity Decree during the short-lived coalition of the Lega and 5-Star Movement.
This ban has been challenged by Serie A football teams, media companies, and gambling trade associations, which argued that it was illegally imposed by former Deputy PM Luigi Di Maio without federal oversight.
Alesse concluded by highlighting that the ADM’s reforms could position Italy as a leader in the European gambling sector regarding tax revenue generation, with balanced regulations designed to safeguard consumers from illicit gambling operations.
The urgency of curbing the black market is backed by the ADM’s report indicating its first decline in gambling revenue since 2011.
The Agency’s recent bulletin showed a 6% revenue drop compared to the €8.2 billion collected during the same period in 2023. For 2023 as a whole, ADM collected €11.62 billion in gambling taxes. Consequently, 2024 might be the first year the ADM notes a decrease in tax income, aside from the influences of COVID-19 in 2020.