Italy’s Illegal Gambling Market Worth €30 Billion

The new research “The Italian Unregulated Gambling Market”, carried out by Prisma Spa and the “Fabio Gobbo” Group of Financial and Industrial Research at Luiss, estimates a total turnover of around €30 billion, with over €2 billion in actual spending and tax evasion amounting to €1.4 billion.

The results were presented in Rome during the event “Measuring the Invisible”, which brought together academics, institutions, and industry operators to analyze a phenomenon without clear boundaries and in constant evolution.

The weight of online and the structure of the unregulated market 

The study confirms the absolute predominance of the digital gambling channel, which represents 85% of the illegal market. The remaining 15% is distributed among betting, gaming machines, and lotteries, with percentages indicating greater effectiveness of controls in the physical sector. The prevalence of online is attributed to the presence of offshore platforms, untraceable payment systems, and gaming methods that escape traditional monitoring mechanisms.

The analysis also highlights how illegal gambling influences local economic variables, affecting prices, rents, and player behavior. The phenomenon appears particularly rooted in areas where illegal networks are more structured, with an adaptability that makes any attempt at precise measurement complex.

The profile of the illegal gambler and motivations 

According to surveys conducted by Luiss and Ipsos, about 5.5 million Italians turn to the unregulated market, equal to 24% of total players. The majority use the physical channel, while a significant share access via the Internet. The average illegal gambler is a man around 40 years old, employed in most cases, and often with minor children.

The level of education is generally lower compared to players in the authorized circuit. The spread is greater in the South, where the presence of entrenched illegal networks facilitates access to unauthorized services. The main motivations are linked to leisure, the perception of a more convenient offer, and the possibility of obtaining odds or winnings considered more advantageous.

A critical element concerns low awareness: one-third of players are not fully aware they are operating in an illegal context, due in part to the lack of perceived transparency in the overall gambling market.

The new frontiers of digital illegality

The research identifies new emerging forms of illegal gambling, increasingly difficult to intercept. These include crypto casinos (focused on cryptocurrencies and anonymity), Telegram casinos (based on messaging platform channels), and crash game apps (linked to unauthorized sites). A gray area is represented by prediction markets, platforms born as financial tools that have turned into complex betting systems operating in an unregulated context.

Institutions involved in the debate emphasized that public gambling requires health protection, legality, and tax revenue, highlighting the need for constant updates to control tools. Supervisory authorities also pointed out the difficulty of countering operators based in tax havens, where site closures prove ineffective due to their immediate reactivation.

The five pillars to combat illegal gambling 

The study proposes five strategic guidelines to strengthen the fight against illegal gambling: regulatory uniformity between State, Regions, and Municipalities; fiscal rebalancing between online and physical gambling; monitoring of emerging products; revision of the absolute advertising ban; and strengthening international judicial cooperation with countries hosting illegal operators, along with the involvement of the banking system. A complex but deemed essential path to restore transparency, security, and competitiveness in Italy’s public gambling market.