INSIGHT STUDIO SBORDONI
LICENSING AND CONCESSIONS – the current situation
As the expiry dates of the last online concessions approach, the land-based ones having already expired since 2016 and under permanent extension, the betting market in Italy is in turmoil. Several operators are eagerly looking for concessions to buy, but with little success given both the high price of those who would sell and the few possibilities.
But let us look back at the history of these concessions, starting from the recent to the oldest.
Te expiry dates following the 2011 (so-called EU) and 2018 tenders have overlapped and have in any case come to an end. In particular, the most recent selective procedure, (pursuant to art. 1, paragraph 935, Law no. 208 of 28 December 2015, published however in the OJEU on 10 January 2018) put out to tender 120 concessions for remote gaming in Italy, with an allocation mechanism linked to the timeliness of the submission of applications in a given time period and against a one-off consideration for the duration of the concession equal to €200,000.
Many of the concessions awarded under this procedure - with a duration of four years - could only start collection operations during 2020, thus leaving very little time for operators to be able to collect and even less time to achieve at least break-even.
Te Lazio Regional Administrative Court, following appeals by all expiring operators, ruled in several judgements of the same tenor that the concessions be aligned to 31 December 2022
“... in the light of the regulatory provision set out in art. 1, paragraph 935, of Law no. 208 of 28 December 2015 (so-called “Stability Law 2016”), which provides for the gradual “temporal alignment to 31 December 2022 of all concessions having as their subject matter the marketing of remote games ..;
Considering that ... an express extension of the public gaming concessions under discussion ... is in any case desirable as part of a broader reorganisation of the public gaming sector, also in order to allow the execution of the relevant tenders ... as well as to continue to ensure adequate tax revenues, otherwise expired and non-renewable concessions would result in the loss of the relevant tax revenues ...”.
Tus, the expiry date of all online concessions active today – approx. 90 – will be 31 December 2022, i.e. in just over six months.
So, when will the new tenders take place?
Article 1, paragraph 727(e) of Law no. 160 of 27 December 2019 provides for the launch of a new selective procedure for remote gaming concessions by 31 December 2020, a deadline later extended to 30 June 2021 by Article 69,
P96 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
Stefano Sbordoni Supreme Court attorney-at-law Studio Sbordoni
Stefano Sbordoni is a Supreme Court attorney-at-law and has taught tax law on gaming at the University of Salerno and was a former professor of information technology law at the Tuscia University. He has an established reputation in the gaming and betting industry in Italy and internationally and is a regular speaker at major conferences on gambling and betting in Italy and worldwide.
www.studiosbordoni.com
s.sbordoni@
studiosbordoni.com
paragraph 3 of Decree-Law no. 18 of 17 March 2020. Te procedure should only put out to tender 40 concessionary rights for the operation and collection of remote gaming, with an auction base of no less than € 2,500,000 each.
Tis law has been strongly contested, and even government bodies have repeatedly stated that it would be reformulated, especially in relation to the tender conditions of online concessions.
A tender for only 40 rights, according to the operators, would lead to the impossibility of continuing to legally offer gaming for more than half of the current concession holders. Almost automatically, therefore, a large part of the collection of these operators would be quickly lost to the regulated market, to an extent that operators quantify at between 20 and 30 per cent of the current size.
It is hoped that in view of the announced reorganisation of the entire sector – online included –that parliament should delegate to the government with a special law, also the law providing for the tender of the 40 concessions will also be reviewed. With this in mind, an amendment is awaited shortly – necessary due to the expiry on 30 June 2022 of the last extension of land-based betting concessions – which it is hoped will also cover or at least pre- announce online concessions.
On the subject of taxation, on the other hand, having the 0.5 per cent tax on sports betting finally expired, referred to in Article 217, paragraph 2, of Law Decree no. 34 of 19 May 2020, converted into law, with amendments, by Article 1, paragraph 1, of Law no. 77 of 17 July 2020, which established the “Fund for the revitalisation of the national sports system”, so- called Salvasport, there were rumours about its renewal soon with an increase to one per cent. Tese rumours, however, were unfounded, as it is precisely the reorganisation that will also deal with the fiscal aspects of betting.
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