Last updated on December 13th, 2024
Italy’s iGaming scene is going through a revolution that sees this global cultural center emerging as a pioneer in the online gaming industry. One individual who has inside knowledge and an in-depth understanding of this gaming renaissance in the country is Quirino Mancini, an esteemed Italian lawyer from Rome and Partner and Director at WH Partners.
Quirino recently talked to SiGMA about this Italian iGaming revolution and revealed why this market has noticed such a boom in recent years.
The first thing Quirino responded when asked what drives the Italian iGaming market was “stability in rules, clarity in regulations, and a framework that operators can trust”, highlighting the effort that the Italian government puts into regulating this market.
In fact, Italy can be considered a “trailblazer in Europe”, as it is one of the few countries that introduced extensive online gaming regulations back in 2006. Since then, these laws have gradually evolved into a stable and mature market, allowing Italy to flourish in this segment.
Quirino continued by stating that the Italian regulation model is one-of-a-kind, and not a “copy-paste approach, but rather a legislation that is based on the principles of “sustainability, comprehensiveness, and clarity”.
Yet, Quirino also added that while the Italian iGaming scene is undeniably lucrative and stable, it also imposes certain challenges, particularly when it comes to new operators seeking to enter the Italian iGaming scene.
One of these challenges is the tricky licensing situation, where the price of legally operating in Italy can be highly drastic and vary between €200,000 to €7 million, something that frequently deters “smaller players” and instead attracts the big dogs.
According to Quirino, this is intentional, as this means that Italy will have “fewer operators, bigger players, and a market that can be regulated more effectively”.
When it comes to foreign operators, however, the cost challenges are just the beginning. Due to the current regulatory system in Italy, foreign operators are required to integrate their platforms with the central control system of the government to ensure real-time monitoring of literally every transaction.
Moreover, Quirino added that the process of setting up an Italian platform could take anywhere from six months to two years, with a unique rule that mandates all technical standards must be available in Italian only.
And while this diligent approach definitely puts Italy as a regulatory leader, it also presents a challenging learning curve for new brands that want to enter the market.
Regardless of these technical rules, Quirino is adamant that Italy is “not just another jurisdiction”, but rather a “first-tier European market” with a high level of transparency that protects both players and the market itself.
What makes Italy so sought-after by operators, as Quirino stated, is the country’s vibrant culture and rich history. Being that “gaming is in the DNA of Italians”, operators that enter the market must tailor their platforms to specifically satisfy the preferences of local tastes and individual players.
Lastly, Quirino touched upon responsible gambling. More specifically, he stated that while safer gambling is vital, it still needs to be “backed by data, not rhetoric”, as any exaggeration and implementation of over-the-top measures have the potential to “do more harm than good”.
Quirino mentioned the blanket ban in Italy on gambling advertisements, stating that the country introduced this policy as a political statement rather than as a response to a crisis, comparing the law to “using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”
Despite this interesting stance, Quirino recognized the value of responsible gambling tools integrated with the latest technology, pointing out the way Italy embraced AI and used it to identify potential risks and track player behaviour.
Quirino finished by stressing the dire need for these safer gambling tools to be “complemented by broader efforts” to engage and educate players on the perils of overindulging in gambling.
