Betting, growing confusion between legal and illegal
2 October 2025
15% of players are unaware they are using non-authorized operators: another sign of the ineffectiveness of the Dignity Decree.
The reorganization of the legal gaming sector, as outlined in Legislative Decree 41/2024, represents a crucial opportunity to establish a stable and modern regulatory framework. It is essential that these measures are accompanied by dialogue between institutions and concessionaires to build a more sustainable future where legality, security, and competitiveness can coexist, fostering the best development of the legal gaming sector.
With this goal in mind, the event “The Gaming Industry Between New Regulations and the Market” was held this morning at the MoMeC (Montecitorio Meeting Centre), organized by AGIC (Entertainment Gaming Concession Association). AGIC is part of Confindustria’s confederate system and represents the four main legal gaming concessionaires: Brightstar Lottery (formerly IGT), Lottomatica, Sisal Italia, and Snaitech. Together, AGIC accounts for approximately 6,000 employees, nearly 70% of the legal gaming market, and a network of about 60,000 retail points across the country.
In addition to AGIC member companies, the event was attended by prominent figures including Confindustria’s Director General, Dr. Maurizio Tarquini; the Director of Gaming at the Customs and Monopolies Agency, Mario Lollobrigida; Prof. Giuseppe Melis, Professor of Tax Law at LUISS University; Prof. Gennaro Terracciano, Professor of Administrative and Public Law at Foro Italico University in Rome; and institutional representatives such as Hon. Mauro Del Barba, Secretary of the Finance Committee of the Chamber of Deputies; Hon. Saverio Congedo, Member of the Finance Committee; Sen. Antonio Misiani, Vice President of the Senate Budget Committee; and Hon. Maurizio Casasco, Member of the Productive Activities Committee and Head of the Economic Department of FI.
“Our shared objective,” stated AGIC President Gennaro Schettino, “must be to find a balance between protecting public health, promoting a legal and competitive market in contrast to the illegal one, and ensuring stable fiscal revenues and regulatory frameworks.”
“The legal gaming sector is a significant component of the national economy, and it is crucial to promote an environment that rewards operators who comply with the rules, encouraging investments that drive competitiveness,” said Confindustria’s Director General, Maurizio Tarquini. “In any sector, including this one, two factors are essential for fostering entrepreneurial growth: regulatory certainty and a tax burden aligned with the natural drive for business expansion. This is the foundation of the proposal Confindustria submitted in the last Budget Law, advocating for a rewarding corporate income tax (IRES) to encourage companies to reinvest profits in assets and employment.”
“In this context, by working together,” concluded Tarquini, “we can contribute effectively to creating a more stable regulatory environment, a more constructive relationship with institutions, and a more balanced fiscal policy that allows the legal gaming sector to grow while safeguarding consumers and promoting social sustainability.”
Over the years, fiscal policies in the sector have become increasingly complex due to multiple legislative interventions, culminating in yet another tax hike introduced in the 2024 Budget Law. This approach generates fiscal uncertainty and causes several negative effects, including economic difficulties for businesses, higher costs for consumers, growth of illegal gaming, and job losses.
“Examining public gaming policies reveals a lack of rationality and stability,” stated Prof. Giuseppe Melis, Professor of Tax Law at LUISS University. “Frequent changes in tax rates exacerbate disparities without creating a cohesive regulatory framework. The expected new contractual structure between the State and physical network concessionaires should follow the principles outlined in the March decree on online gaming reorganization, ensuring contract duration and balance.”
On the need for clear and uniform regulation strongly advocated by AGIC, Prof. Gennaro Terracciano, Professor of Administrative and Public Law at Foro Italico University in Rome, also insisted, particularly with reference to the recent proposal from the football world regarding a possible “commercial exchange” with the sports betting world in the name of the so-called “right to bet,” or the principle of requiring bookmakers to pay a sort of “copyright” on sporting events.
On this matter, Prof. Terracciano specified: “Creating a link between sporting events and gaming, I believe, is very dangerous: it is clear that there must be the proper allocation of resources derived from gaming, in this case from sports betting, but strictly tying the ownership of the sporting event to a levy imposed on operators is dangerous. This cannot be the way to contribute economically to the world of sport. Beyond the fact that the Civil Code clearly delineates the scope of betting activities by decreeing their legitimacy,” explained Giuseppe Terracciano, “the proposed scenario would interfere in a sector that requires absolute impermeability to betting to avoid dangerous influences, which would be harmful both for the State and for bettors.”
During the meeting, a framework of shared opinions emerged among the representatives of the main parliamentary committees: despite differing sensitivities on some issues, the parliamentarians praised the work carried out by public gaming operators, emphasizing, as stated by the Secretary of the Finance Committee, Hon. Mauro Del Barba, that “while keeping in mind the significant obstacle posed by public opinion, the sector’s efforts in carrying out its activities are commendable.”
The Head of the Finance Committee, Hon. Saverio Congedo, instead drew attention to the value of transparency in legal gaming, reiterating that “it is essential for the government to guarantee a stable regulatory framework, a common goal we must commit to achieving.”
Sen. Antonio Misiani, Vice-President of the Budget Committee, emphasized the centrality of public gaming as a strategic industrial sector, with over 150,000 employees and €13 billion in fiscal revenue, highlighting the need to overcome regulatory fragmentation and repeated extensions in recent years: “We need to find common ground with all stakeholders around the sector’s strategic objectives, combating illegal gaming, addressing gambling addiction, and promoting investments and job creation. With the regions and local authorities, it is necessary to build a shared political path to overcome the regulatory fragmentation of recent years.”
On the economic theme, Hon. Maurizio Casasco of the Productive Activities Committee and Head of Forza Italia’s Economic Department, stressed that “gaming must be considered a productive activity in every respect, with the need to plan investments also to combat illegality, but it is also essential that regulation for dependencies is addressed at the national level, not fragmented.”
Overall, the discussion outlined a work program to be implemented in the coming months, with a shared vision centered on stability, legality, and innovation, while ensuring consumer protection and greater competitiveness in the sector.
15% of players are unaware they are using non-authorized operators: another sign of the ineffectiveness of the Dignity Decree.
The regulated gambling industry plays a key role not only from an economic perspective but also for its social and regulatory implications, as it represents a significant component of the national economy: in 2024, net expenditure reached €21 billion, while tax revenues exceeded €11 billion.
Yesterday morning, at the Hotel Nazionale in Piazza Montecitorio, the event “Legal Market and Public Gaming: The Role of the Industry”