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Licence guide · Italy
Italy's ADM online concession after the 2024 reform
Italy rebuilt its online gambling market in 2024 and 2025. Legislative Decree 41/2024 replaced hundreds of cheap, multi-skin concessions with a small number of expensive ones: €7 million each, nine years, one website per concession. The tender is now closed and the new concessions have run since 13 November 2025. Here is what the reform changed, what it costs to operate, and why game approval in Italy works differently from almost everywhere else.
Who grants the Italian licence?
The Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM), the customs and monopolies agency, awards and supervises every online gaming concession in Italy. Older documents still call it AAMS, its name before the 2012 merger with the customs agency.
Legally, Italy does not issue "licences" to online operators at all: it grants concessions, because gambling is a state reserve that the state delegates to private companies. The practical effect is that entry happens only through tenders, never on a rolling basis.
What D.Lgs. 41/2024 changed
Legislative Decree no. 41 of 25 March 2024 reorganised the remote gaming sector as part of the wider tax reform law. Its core choices were to raise the price of entry sharply, end the skin model and tighten player protection.
Italy's online concession before and after the reform (sources listed below, checked September 2026)
| Topic | Before the reform | After D.Lgs. 41/2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Concession price | A fraction of the new price in earlier tenders | €7,000,000 per concession |
| Duration | Rolling extensions of the old concessions | 9 years from 13 November 2025, non-renewable |
| Websites | Many skins on one concession | One website per concession, one app per product |
| Annual fee | Varied by legacy terms | 3% of net revenue (GGR after tax) |
| Responsible gambling | General duties | 0.2% of GGR to awareness campaigns, capped at €1M a year |
| Security bond | Legacy amounts | €500,000 fixed plus a variable part linked to activity |
The €7 million is paid in two parts: €4 million on award and €3 million when the service goes live, which the concessionaire had to do within six months. The concession covers the full online product range permitted by the decree: sports and virtual betting, casino games, poker and bingo.
The 2025 tender, in dates
ADM published the tender on 17 December 2024 and closed bids on 30 May 2025. On 17 September 2025 it admitted 46 operators to the second stage, and 52 concessions were ultimately awarded to those 46 groups (some took more than one). The old concessions were extended until 12 November 2025; the new ones started the next day.
- 17 December 2024: tender notice published by ADM.
- 30 May 2025: deadline for bids.
- 17 September 2025: 46 operators admitted to stage two.
- 13 November 2025: new nine-year concessions take effect.
- By spring 2026: concessionaires required to have their platforms live, within six months of award.
The consequence for newcomers is blunt. There is no open window, and commentators expect none before the current concessions approach expiry around 2034. A new brand entering Italy today does so by acquiring or partnering with an existing concessionaire, not by applying.
Italian gaming taxes and levies
Italy taxes remote gaming on gross gaming revenue, with separate rates by product. The 2025 Budget Law raised the rates by half a point.
Italian remote gaming levies (checked September 2026)
| Levy | Rate | Base |
|---|---|---|
| Online sports and virtual betting tax | 24.5% | GGR (raised from 24%) |
| Online casino, poker and bingo tax | 25.5% | GGR (raised from 25%) |
| Annual concession fee | 3% | GGR net of gaming tax, paid twice a year |
| Responsible gambling contribution | 0.2% | GGR, capped at €1 million per year |
Add Italy's long-standing advertising ban under the 2018 Dignity Decree, which prohibits gambling advertising and sponsorship, and the margin arithmetic becomes very different from a market where acquisition can be bought on TV.
How games get approved in Italy
Italy certifies games one by one. Each game must pass a conformity check by a verification body accredited by ADM, which confirms that the code matches the declared design, that the maths and RNG behave as stated and that reporting to ADM works. Only then does ADM authorise the game and assign it the codes used in real-time reporting.
ADM's technical rules set minimum payout levels: fixed-odds games and single-player card games must return at least 90% of the amount wagered net of any jackpot contribution, while bingo has a lower floor. A game that fails the payout check is not authorised. Platforms and certain games must also be re-checked periodically.
Every wager is transmitted to ADM's central systems, so a game that is not registered with ADM simply cannot be offered.
Building an Italian lobby: what to ask for
For an Italian concessionaire, the useful question is not "how many games do you have" but "which of them are ADM-certified, in which version, and with which ADM codes". Studios such as Pragmatic Play, Evolution, Playtech, NetEnt, Play'n GO and Red Tiger have long certified content for Italy; many newer studios have not.
The integration should let you act on that answer without custom work per studio. A casino game aggregator API that returns per-game metadata (studio, category, currencies, market) lets you build an Italy-only lobby filter, and a country parameter at launch makes each studio's own territorial restrictions apply automatically. Demo sessions go through a separate call, getGameDemo, so free play never touches the real-money wallet. EUR runs natively, and a site can be locked to EUR only.
Live dealer content deserves its own check, because Italian live tables are typically streamed from dedicated studios. Our live casino API uses the same seamless wallet as slots, and the sportsbook API plugs into the same integration if the concession includes betting. Catalogue and currencies change continuously; the live list is in the API.
Player protection in the new framework
- A national self-exclusion register (RUA) that blocks excluded players across every concession.
- Deposit and time limits that players set at registration, with warnings as limits approach.
- Real-time session information showing time played and amount spent.
- Identity checks tied to the Italian tax code (codice fiscale) before an account is fully opened.
- Expanded ADM powers against illegal gambling sites, including payment blocking.
Who should look at Italy now
Italy is one of Europe's biggest regulated online markets, but the door is closed for new concessions until the next tender. It makes sense today for existing concessionaires refreshing their content and platforms, and for suppliers preparing ADM certifications. Operators looking for a market they can enter by application should compare Greece or the other entries in our licence guides.
This guide is general information, not legal advice; use Italian counsel for any concession-specific question.
Italy ADM concession: operator questions
How much does an Italian online gambling licence cost in 2026?
A concession under D.Lgs. 41/2024 costs €7 million (€4 million on award, €3 million at go-live), plus a 3% annual concession fee, a 0.2% responsible gambling contribution and a security bond of €500,000 plus a variable part.
Can I apply for an ADM concession today?
No. The tender closed on 30 May 2025 and the 52 concessions awarded run for nine years from 13 November 2025. New entrants typically acquire or partner with an existing concessionaire.
How many websites can I run on one Italian concession?
One. The reform ended the multi-skin model: each concession allows one website and one app per gambling product.
What is the tax rate for online casinos in Italy?
25.5% of gross gaming revenue for casino, poker and bingo, and 24.5% for online sports and virtual betting, after the increases in the 2025 Budget Law.
Do casino games need ADM approval one by one?
Yes. Each game is verified by an ADM-accredited verification body and authorised by ADM before it can be offered, with a minimum payout of 90% for fixed-odds games.
How long is an ADM concession valid?
Nine years, and the decree makes them non-renewable. The current concessions started on 13 November 2025, so the next tender is not expected before the early 2030s.
Sources and last update
This page relies on the text of the reform and on ADM's tender milestones, cross-checked with law-firm and trade-press summaries published in 2024 to 2026.
- Legislative Decree no. 41 of 25 March 2024 (reorganisation of remote gaming)
- ADM tender notice for remote gaming concessions, 17 December 2024, and admission to stage two, 17 September 2025
- DLA Piper and Gaming Tech Law analyses of the Italian tender, September 2025
- Italian 2025 Budget Law (gaming tax increases to 24.5% and 25.5%)
- ADM, "Certificazione delle piattaforme di gioco" pages and technical rules on payout, checked September 2026
- Decree-Law 87/2018 ("Decreto Dignità"), article 9, gambling advertising ban
Last reviewed: 24 September 2026.
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