Mauro De Fabritiis, founder of MDF Partners, analyzes the new Italian gaming scenario at SBC Lisbon 2026 and emphasizes the need for regulations to evolve with it.
Digitalization is driving online growth in Italy while retail remains dominant, despite a gradual decline.
Mauro De Fabritiis, moderator of the panel “Beyond the Reform: The New Italian Gaming Landscape”, taking place today, Wednesday, September 30 at SBC Summit 2026 in Lisbon, summarizes the Italian landscape. He details how from 2016 to 2025 the percentage “weight” of various forms of gaming has evolved and changed: as for retail (gaming machines and bingo), it held 58% of the market in 2016 compared to 38% in 2025; retail lotteries went from 32% to 28%; retail betting from 5% to 7%), while online, which in 2016 stood at a small 5% of the total market, now stands at 26%.
In total, the total gaming GGR grew by 1.4% over the period considered, online GGR grew by 20.9%, while overall retail fell by 1.3%.
In presenting the data to the audience, De Fabritiis also highlights the increasing concentration of operators in the Italian gaming market: five groups today account for 84% of the total GGR, compared to the 68% they held in 2016, and the concentration is even stronger in retail, with 92% of the market (against 71% in 2016), while in online it stops at 78% of the market against 45% in 2016.
De Fabritiis paints a mixed picture. The market is moving rapidly toward omnichannel convergence, technological acceleration, changing consumer behavior, increasing market concentration, the persistence of the illegal market, and the continuous growth of online gaming, driven by casino games. On the other hand, the rules are not keeping pace: the retail reform is incomplete, there are uncertainties regarding concessions for retail gaming verticals, rules on responsible gaming and advertising are fragmented and evolving, and the fight against the illegal market needs to be strengthened.
Markets change, De Fabritiis states, and rules must be capable of changing with the market.
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