License holders and operators looking to invest in the Italian market are marking March 19 on their notebooks as this has been set as the final date for any applications due for 2018. Missing the deadline could mean that any interested parties will have to wait for another 4 years before reapplying.
The price for issuing or renewing a license currently stands at 200K euros. Operators were quick to approve this price and are looking to purchase the license as early as possible, or look for a business transfer from current holders.
After the issuance of the license all operators have 9 more months to launch their first casino game, according to Italian gambling legislation. Launching the first game equals passing the “collaudo”, the standard Italian technical test, for one game category in a live environment designed by the corresponding regulator. In practice, this means that the actual launch of the casino site does not necessarily have to be 9 months after the issuance of the license, but at whatever point the operator feels the site is stable enough to run as a whole.