The world of operator representatives turned to the public gaming regulatory authority in Italy to present a series of proposals for intervention with the aim of reorganizing the online and land-based offer.
Pasquale Chiacchio, President of the A.G.S.I.-Italian Betting Managers Association, representative of the Managers and Licensees of Legal Games authorized by the State Customs and Monopolies Agency, in collaboration with the National Category Associations C.N.I. – A.GI.LE – C.G.S.S. formulated the following observations and proposals for the reform of the physical and online legal gaming sector:
The reorganization decrees of legal game they must necessarily include both online gaming and physical gaming.
It is highlighted that the physical network, rooted throughout the national territory, is the real garrison di legality'.
Tale physical network would go protected e legitimized also towards public opinion, if necessary better regulated , because that's the real point of reference for all the millions of enthusiasts and certifies that the Italian state, through its delegates, manages the legal gaming market.
All this to really fight illegality and protect the public health.
The reform should start from the agreements sanctioned in the 2017 Unified Conference, update and complete them also with particular reference to the exponential growth of online gaming.
In our opinion, the objectives to be achieved in order to reorganize overall
M&A activities in the reference markets of private equity, venture capital and energy; legal game are :
• determine the number of establishments that collect and/or promote public gaming including PVRs in order to avoid excessive concentrations of supply in the territories.
• all Activities of legal game must respect the same rules.
• establish the characteristics of the businesses and the requirements of the operators who in the area offer or promote in various capacities the legal game (currently estimated at around 120.000);
• identify among those of the official network the specialized ones where it is necessary to be able to market the entire portfolio of ADM games. It really makes no sense that at just some businesses, in a few square metres, you can have a greater offer (e.g. lotto, scratch cards, horse racing - sports and virtual betting, awp) compared to that of a specialized gaming shop defined as category a by the 2017 unified conference);
• regulate the so-called PVRs that spread uncontrollably during the pandemic following the prolonged closure of the official legal gaming network. The PVRs must fulfill the sole task of marketing gaming account top-ups and this must be said clearly without any possibility of interpretation,
• Give recognition to the various sales methods, for example: the specialized shop must have a clear and distinguishable logo as a safe and controlled place where the protection of health, public order and the prevention of the risk of access and gaming by minors is guaranteed, also with media campaigns that highlight that the many economic resources produced by the Legal Games are also invested in public works and social activities;
• We propose, regarding the national distribution of the activities of legal game,
the principle of establishing a number of Points of Sale at a regional level, depending on the resident population, (as proposed in detail in our proposals sent on 20 September) with respect for the distance between points of sale;
• decisively combat the illegal market which Guardia di Finanza sources quantify at 25 billion in turnover on an annual basis, many of which collected online. In this regard, we suggest intervening not only with the inhibition of .com sites but also with sanctions against financial intermediaries who accept transactions with these illegal operators.
• Maintenance of the AWP offer in general stores, with dedicated areas closed to minors with the possibility of reviewing the quota criterion (we have our own proposal);
• Establish or professional for operators in the legal gaming sector (we also have our own proposal).
• Emulate the Regional Law of Campania at a national level, considered to be very balanced, with rules that protect first of all public health and then entrepreneurial investments;
• For the relaunch of the horse race betting sector, a clear reduction in withdrawals for Totalizer bets is proposed with the application of only the single tax for fixed odds bets (criterion equivalent to sports betting), elimination of all current three-way bets and activation of a new weekly and national horse racing bet with potential millionaire Jackpot;
• The race ofonline it must also be sustainable for small and medium-sized businesses, which have been in the legal gaming sector for many years, and not discriminating with an auction base impossible di 6 / 7 million of Euro !!!
These amounts are only within the reach of large foreign companies and can encourage criminal infiltration given the large amounts of capital they manage.
The risks of such a hasty anticipation of the reorganization of remote gaming, compared to retail, would lead to serious damage to the official network and further confusion among the millions of customers.
