Flutter Entertainment plans to withdraw its Betfair Exchange, Sportsbook and Casino products from Italy after changes to the country’s gambling regulations made the exchange commercially unsustainable.
The company confirmed the decision in October statements to cited by Bet It Drives, explaining that Betfair accounts for only a small proportion of its Italian revenue. Flutter has not announced a timetable for ending customer access or explained which specific regulatory requirements prompted the withdrawal.
The closure will leave the group’s other Italian brands, including Sisal, Snai and PokerStars, operating as usual. Flutter also said the decision would have no impact on its employees in Italy or its Betfair operations in other markets.
The announcement followed reports that Betfair was ending its Italian affiliate programme. The company has set Oct. 31 as the programme’s termination date and instructed partners to remove promotional material targeting Italian customers by Oct. 29. Commissions earned during October will be processed and paid in November.
Those deadlines apply to affiliates, however, and Flutter has yet to provide equivalent dates for customers. The company has not confirmed when it will stop accepting wagers, how it will handle unsettled bets or when players must withdraw their remaining balances.
New Italian licensing framework puts pressure on Betfair
Italy introduced a revised regulatory framework for online gambling through Legislative Decree No. 41 in March 2024. The system established a €7 million fee for concessions lasting nine years, alongside additional requirements covering compliance and player protection.
The new framework took effect in November 2025, following a licensing process that required operators to secure concessions for their businesses. The rules require separate licences for individual brands rather than allowing one licence to cover several brands.
This structure means Flutter must maintain authorizations for its Betfair, Sisal, Snai and PokerStars operations. The company secured five Italian concessions in September 2025, which took effect on Nov. 13 that year.
Betfair’s withdrawal comes despite the fact that betting exchanges remain permitted under the country’s regulations. Italian rules classify exchanges as fixed-odds betting products involving direct interaction between players.
Flutter has not identified whether the licence fees, brand-specific authorization requirements or other regulatory changes were decisive in its assessment of Betfair’s viability.
The Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM), Italy’s gambling regulator, has also been updating the technical standards governing exchanges. In August 2026, it published version 3.0 of its communication protocol for player-to-player betting, setting out technical requirements for operators connecting their systems to the country’s central gambling infrastructure.
Flutter has not said whether the updated protocol contributed to its decision. The company also has not indicated that it intends to withdraw its other brands from Italy.
Exchange liquidity and the unresolved closure timetable
Betfair launched its Italian exchange in 2014 after years of discussions with local regulators. The platform allows customers to wager against one another instead of placing every bet with a traditional bookmaker.
Players can back an outcome or lay it, meaning they wager against that outcome. Betfair matches compatible positions and collects commission on winnings. The system depends on sufficient customer participation, since a wager can only be matched when another participant is willing to accept the opposite position.
The Italian exchange has historically operated with a domestic pool of bets separate from Betfair’s larger international exchange. The company confirmed that arrangement in its 2014 results following negotiations with Italian authorities.
A separate national pool limits the number of potential counterparties available to customers compared with an international exchange. That can affect how easily players find matching wagers. Flutter has not, however, identified liquidity constraints as the reason for its planned exit.
For now, uncertainty remains over the practical arrangements for existing customers. Flutter has not published a schedule for account closures, withdrawals or the settlement of outstanding positions. Betfair Italia S.r.l. also remained listed by ADM as an authorized online gambling operator under concession number 16028 while the withdrawal was being prepared.
The company has therefore confirmed its strategic decision without setting out the operational timetable for the three products. Its international Betfair business will continue operating outside Italy.
Flutter expands its remaining Italian operations
The Betfair decision comes as Flutter continues to consolidate its position in Italy through acquisitions and integration work involving its other gambling brands.
The group acquired Sisal in 2021 and completed its €2.3 billion purchase of Snaitech from Playtech in April 2025. Snaitech operates the Snai brand across online and retail betting, adding to Flutter’s existing Italian business.
Integration of the acquired operations has continued. In April 2026, Flutter completed the transfer of Snai customers to Sisal’s technology platform as part of efforts to combine the businesses and reduce costs. The company also reported that Sisal achieved a record market share in June.
Flutter’s financial results underline the importance of the wider Italian operation. In the second quarter of 2026, revenue from its Southern Europe and Africa (SEA) division increased by 36% year over year, according to results published on Aug. 5. The region generated $896 million in revenue during the first half of the year, making it Flutter’s third-largest reporting region over that period.
The company‘s overall second-quarter revenue reached $4.33 billion (€3.87 billion), an increase of 3% from the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA declined by 45% to $508 million (€454 million), while Flutter recorded a net loss of $296 million (€264 million), compared with a profit of $37 million (€33 million) a year earlier.