Analysis: What does the new Italian government mean for online gambling?

The Italian government has a new man in charge following Friday’s swearing-in of the populist Giuseppe Conte to the role of Prime Minister, replacing the previous encumbent Paolo Gentiloni, who led Italy’s government for 536 days.

Conte is the leader in a coalition which includes his party, the populist anti-immigrant, Eurosceptic Five Star movement and their more moderate partners, Legia Nord, led by Matteo Salvini.

One of the first gestures of this new coalition was to present a joint coalition contract, signed by both leaders in which it called for what it called ‘stronger social contract against the ills of gambling’.

Potential restrictions being considered include: a total ban on gambling advertising and sponsorship, the enforcement of financial transparency for gambling companies, restrictions on gambling forms with repeated bets, the limitation of gambling times playable and the reduction of ‘machine gambling’ through restricting installation to certain areas.

However, the policy is quite a distance away from a law, legally speaking and if Conte wishes to enforce these provisions, he must first deal with their effects on the Italian tax take.

Addressing this, Christian Tirabassi senior partner at Ficom Leisure said: “The new populist government has self-declared itself the ‘government of change’.

“For the gaming sector as well as for the rest of the government programs it has yet to be seen what, in reality can be changed, including how they will manage the potential reduction of 9bn euro betting and gaming direct tax revenues.”

Speaking about how this might impact online operators, Italian market expert Nicola Tani from Agipro said: “The most worrying restriction would definitively be an advertising ban.

“Advertising is a crucial key for foreign online bookmakers and casinos both to keep their market shares inside the regulated market and diversify their brands from the illegal websites.

“A ban would be very negative also for the online newcomers, which are setting up their Italian market launches. Marathonbet, Pinnacle or Winamax are supposed to launch an advertising campaign in the following months to acquire their Italian customers: what would happen to their businesses if a ban was effective in 2019?”

However, there may be some cause for optimism, in the form of Conte’s partners in the coalition, Legia Nord, who are widely seen as the more moderate of the two partners, with differing views on tax, immigration, government expenditure and Italy’s relationship with the EU.

Tani added: “Salvini’s Northern League seems to have a more concrete approach to the issue, based on the protection of jobs and companies. Many in the Italian industry hope that this can be enough to save the business.”