Eurispes. Results of the survey “Beyond the Covid-19. Public gaming and addictions in Sardinia”.
Beyond the Covid-19.
Public gaming and addictions in Sardinia
After the studies conducted by Eurispes to photograph the situation of the gaming sector in Puglia, Piedmont, Lazio, and after the in-depth study dedicated to the world of Bingo, the Institute wanted to monitor the state of the sector in Sardinia.
The research Beyond the Covid-19. Public gaming and addictions in Sardinia, carried out with the contribution of the Regional Councillorship for Planning and Budget, stands as a point of connection and continuity with respect to previous publications, able to provide an overview of the legislation, numbers, health aspects relating to the area of public gaming in Sardinia, but also on the phenomenon of illegality.
In this last year, characterised by the effects of Covid-19, even legal gaming has come to a standstill and is waiting for a recovery that still seems to be full of unknowns.
The research opens with an analysis of the evolution and of the numbers of consumption relative to the different types of games present on the regional territory (takings, winnings and expenditure). Then, the regulatory framework of Regional Law no. 2/2019 (Provisions on gambling disorder) is presented, as well as the regulations of the cities of Cagliari and Sassari. The research also focuses on the effects of measures to combat addiction, with particular attention to the instrument of the ” distance meter” and the compression of hours, highlighting the inadequacy of such measures also in light of scientific contributions from the medical area and the world of research. In this sense, in fact, the work of the Region of Sardinia is a positive example in terms of the organisation and activities of the health centres in the area dedicated to the prevention and treatment of ADI.
The research is, in fact, enriched by a section on the activities of the health units (with an interview with the Head of the Operating Unit of Cagliari), the data of the Operating Units, and those collected by the Guardia di Finanza, as well as a focus on the specificity of Sardinia in the Report of the Anti-Mafia Investigative Directorate. The aim is to offer a contribution to the identification of measures that are truly effective in combating all forms of addiction-related to gambling with cash winnings, bearing in mind the risks associated with the expansion of illegal and criminal phenomena.
PUBLIC GAMING IN SARDINIA
The demand for gambling by Italians has not diminished at all. The world of online gambling, the Lotto and lotteries are growing steadily and significantly.
However, when the emergency phase due to the pandemic is over, those problems that Eurispes has been committed to point out for some time will re-emerge, aggravated by the very hard crisis that we are now facing, real contradictions that run through the galaxy of public gaming in our country, starting from the regulatory cumbersomeness or the scarcity of the social and health offer.
In Sardinia, a law has been in force for two years now, which is configured, to some extent, as a “photocopy” of those passed in previous years by many other Administrations and which, with the specific aim of preventing and combating Gambling Disorder, has re-proposed tools such as the “distance meter”, reserving to municipalities the right to determine the hours of public gaming. The Regional Law, 11 January 2019 n. 2 (Provisions on Gambling Disorder), certainly has the merit of having devoted ample space to the theme of prevention and to the involvement of different levels of civil society, and in particular the role of schools, however, it has addressed the issue of gambling and addiction only in 2019. Taking into consideration, for the most part, 2019, last “normal” year, Eurispes was able to reconstruct the picture of a Region that, like others, needs an organic reorganisation of the entire offer, starting from the spirit of the Agreement of September 2017. This is essential to avoid the many differences, generated by regional legislation and municipal regulations, which produce a heterogeneous image of the country: a sort of “federalism of the game” that, as is evident, is not able to produce organic results for the entire country.
THE “NUMBERS” OF GAMING IN SARDINIA
One of the indicators for assessing the real impact of the public gaming offer on a given territory is represented by the overall per capita volume of “gambling” by the citizens concerned. This figure places Sardinia in the lower band (1,154 euros per capita) of the ranking of Italian regions, well below the national average (1,463 euros). The figure, however, refers only to games on the “physical network”, thus excluding online games.
As far as expenditure is concerned, in 2017 it was 457 million euros, while in 2019 it was 467. Winnings stood at 1,186 million euros in 2017, and in 2019 at 1,165 million. Collection, on the other hand, was 1,649 million compared to 1,631 in 2019.
In the three-year period 2017-2019, there is substantial stability in the volumes of collection, winnings and expenditure. The period considered is not affected by the impact of the law of January 2019, nor have the trends been affected by the reduction established by the MEF in relation to AWPs or the various municipal regulations that have governed the hours of public gaming.
Despite the restrictions on the hours and the reduction in the number of AWP machines – which decreased by 30% between 2017 and 2018 (from 13,816 to 9,671) -, the three-year period under review witnessed a different articulation of consumption that, however, did not change the overall data. This proves that the demand for gaming is constant over time.
As far as 2020 is concerned, the data of the first semester that, from March, has seen the substantial closure of physical gaming, attest to the sinking of gaming volumes. For example, in the first semester of 2019 the Lotto had collected a good 92 million euros, in the same period of 2020 the volume has fallen to 58 million; similarly, it has gone from 11 (first semester 2019) to 4.9 million (first semester 2020) for Bingo and from 517 (first semester 2019) to 201 (first semester 2020) million for the apparatuses. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the demand for gambling “compressed” by the pandemic, has poured into other channels, the online one above all, but also on the illegal circuit, to date lacking a fundamental survey to understand the potential volumes and the relative “countermeasures” that the State should take to protect citizens and the interests of the Treasury.
It is clear from the data for the three-year period 2017-2019 that even in Sardinia the demand for gambling is a widespread and consolidated reality. For this reason, policies aimed at the prevention and containment of gambling addiction that affect only the supply of gambling can only fail, obtaining, on the contrary, not a reduction in consumption but its transfer to the area of illegality. The last Eurispes survey on the phenomenon (2019) showed a number of players who turned to illegal circuits equal to 4.7% of the total sample, with considerable figures especially in the South and Islands. This figure, in all likelihood, underestimates the reality, because it includes the number of players who do not know they have run into illegal networks and use them unawares.
EMPLOYMENT IN THE PUBLIC GAMING SECTOR
Other “numbers” to be taken into consideration are those concerning employment on the island. This is a composite supply chain that includes not only the concessionaires, but also the managers, the operators and all the related businesses. At a national level, the public gaming industry generates employment of around 200,000 units. The data obtainable from RIES – the public Register established in 2011 and kept by the Customs and Monopolies Agency, to whose registration are obliged the subjects operating in the sector of the segment of gaming equipment – and referring to Sardinia show that the employment impact of the public gaming sector on the island comes close to 6,000 units. In 2019, there were 2,901 registered points of sale (bars and receivers, private clubs, other generalists, betting shops, dedicated establishments with apparatus, bingo halls, gaming rooms) with a total of 5,922 direct and indirect employment income.
PREVENTION AND LAWS: THE DISTANCE METER
In Sardinia, the Regional Plan for Pathological Gambling (art. 3) has not “remained on paper” – as the Observatory on Games, Legality and Pathologies of Eurispes had the opportunity to report for other regions – and is producing a real strengthening of the activities of the territorial centres.
As regards the establishment of the “distance meter” (art. 12, paragraph 2), on 18 October 2018 Eurispes was heard at the Sixth Commission of the Regional Council in relation to the then Unified Text no. 56-280-514. On that occasion, the Institute had pointed out the advisability that this instrument, which was immediately operational for new authorisations from the date of publication of the law, should be postponed for authorisations pre-existing on the same date – as happened in the case of many other regional laws. As a result of further reflection and listening to the reasons put forward by the associations of operators, the law has established, in art. 12, paragraph 7, that “The exercises with authorizations existing at the date of entry into force of this law shall adapt to the new provisions relating to the minimum distances from sensitive places within a maximum period of five years”.
Some criticism arises in relation to paragraph 3 of Article 12, which defines what is meant by “new installation”. Definition not without importance, since it has considerable practical implications for the operators of the public game, given that, as said, the “distance meter” applies immediately only for the “new installations”, while for those already in place before the entry into force of the regional law in question, the application is deferred for 5 years. Paragraph 3 of Article 12(a) and (b) treats as equivalent to the concept of ‘new installation’ the conclusion of a new contract with a licensee of the Customs and Monopolies Agency, or the renewal of the contract itself. By way of example, according to the regulations, a public gaming operator authorised by the State for many years, which is located in the vicinity of a “sensitive place” and which, for whatever reason, sees its contractual relationship with the Concessionaire terminated, would suddenly find itself operating illegally, since it would not respect the “distance meter”.
These provisions are objectively unacceptable, given that changes in contractual relations within the public gaming sector are part of normal commercial relations between companies (just as happens in other sectors: for example, a change of telephone operator or a change of electricity supplier). These provisions appear to be contrary to the key principles that govern the regulation of competition at national and European level, which require companies to compete, on equal terms, with companies operating in the same sector, ensure the competitiveness of their products and services and, at the same time, protect consumers at the highest level.
GAMBLING ADDICTIONS IN ITALY
According to the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italians who gamble are about 18.5 million, or 36.4% of the population (43.7% men, 29.8% women); of these, 13,453,000 fall into the category of “social” gamblers, i.e. occasional gamblers and gamblers for fun (2018). The estimated ‘low risk’ gamblers are 4.1% (about 2 million), the ‘moderate risk’ gamblers represent 2.8% (1.4 million), the ‘problematic’ ones are 3%, or about 1.5 million. Among problem gamblers, the 50-64 years old group is the most represented with 35.5%. It should be pointed out that the area of problem gamblers does not coincide with that of pathological gamblers, who can only be defined as such following a medical diagnosis and after being ‘taken into care’ by health facilities. In Italy, 13,000 people are assisted by the Departments of Pathological Addiction of the Local Health Authorities, and they represent 0.87% of ‘problem’ gamblers.
PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. IN SARDINIA ALMOST TWICE AS MANY PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLERS ARE ‘INTERCEPTED’ AS THE AVERAGE
In Sardinia, the organisation of the eight territorial units (Operative Units) that take care of GAP (pathological gambling) patients, shows good effectiveness, even more so if compared to other areas of the country. The coordination of the entire offer is entrusted to the Cagliari Operational Unit. In 2019, just under 600 people were ‘taken on’ by Sardinian health services for ADI; if we compare this figure to the island’s population and the 13,000 at national level, we can see that in Sardinia almost twice as many pathological gamblers are ‘intercepted’ as the average.
The SARS-CoV-2 health emergency has led to the remodulation of the actions provided for under the Regional Plan for Pathological Gambling, in order to ensure the continuity of the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation initiatives planned. In line with national data, also in the Region of Sardinia, in 2020 there was a reduction of approximately 50% in new accesses to the Services compared to the previous year, presumably linked to the limitations of gambling on the physical network, as well as to reduced mobility. The assistance to people with a diagnosis of Gambling Disorder was characterised by an inevitable reprogramming of activities, guaranteeing therapeutic continuity through telephone contacts, individual and family interviews by video call, therapeutic group meetings carried out through online platforms. As far as the online mode is concerned, a discrete participation was observed despite the difficulties connected with the use of IT tools, which are not so easily accessible to the older age groups. The prevention and health promotion activities implemented as part of the peer-education and life skills training projects carried out in the school setting in 2019 (which should have continued in 2020) were inevitably interrupted due to the temporary suspension of teaching in the classroom. For this reason, after overcoming the criticalities of the schools linked to the organisation of the A.D.D., we proceeded to the construction of new models of online work using techniques and tools adapted to the specific nature of the videoconference meetings aimed at educators, teachers and students of secondary schools. This readjustment of the procedures also involved all the prevention actions addressed to the general population.
THE SPECIFICITIES OF SARDINIA IN THE REPORT OF THE ANTI-MAFIA INVESTIGATIVE DIRECTORATE
From the DIA’s activities, a few but significant facts emerge, which link the specificities of the islands to the national picture. There are, however, indigenous groups which do not, however, exercise the hegemonic control of the territory typical of criminal organizations. Even the most recent investigations have revealed significant links between Sardinian criminal groups and members of ‘Ndrangheta and Camorra sodalities. In the gaming sector, the island criminality has not renounced establishing operative synergies with the Apulian and Calabrian cosche. A number of investigative lines have revealed how these criminal organisations have entered the sector, controlling, directly or indirectly, very large volumes of gambling and accumulating capital to be laundered through front men. An example of this operation in the area comes from the ‘Ndrangames’ operation, completed by the Carabinieri in 2017, which not only highlighted the gaming interests of the Potentine Martorano-Stefanutti clan, but also identified its operational connections with the ‘Ndrangheta in the Crotone area. The island is also used to launder money from illegal gambling, as emerged in the ‘Game over’ operation, which uncovered complicity between affiliates of the Casalesi cartel, local criminals and other mafia groups.
THE FINANCIAL POLICE ON THE TERRITORY: CONTROL AND CONTRAST
The data made available by the Regional Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Sardinia for the three-year period 2018/2020 concern the operational results in the protection of the state monopoly of betting carried out throughout the region. It emerges, first of all, the increase in the number of violations found and penalties imposed in the year of entry into force of Regional Law no. 2/2019, compared to the previous year (2018). It went from 75 total violations (61 concerning amusement machines) in the year 2018 to 96 (of which 90 concerning amusement machines) in 2019. The increase is much more significant when looking at the total amount of sanctions imposed on gaming machines and “totems”, which rose from €170,477 in 2018 to €402,231 in 2019. If in 2020 the violations found were 19, the penalties, on the other hand, are close to the values of the beginning of the three-year period, reaching 177,232 euros (170,477 in 2018). In 2019, the number of subjects reported to the judicial authorities, out of the total number of subjects “verbalised”, also marks an exponential increase, having risen from 8 in 2018 to 42 in 2019.
As regards 2020, there were no seizures of illegal betting points, while in 2018 there were 3 and in 2019 18. The Municipality of Cagliari, and its province, catalyse the most critical issues in terms of the spread of illicit phenomena, being, moreover, the regional capital municipality among those that have adopted ad hoc regulations to govern the hours of operation of gaming machines and also the “distance meter” to combat addiction. The most widespread type of offence detected in the province of Cagliari consists of illegal gaming machines, which do not have the licences required by law and issued by the Customs and Monopolies Agency. The most recent DIA and DNA reports have repeatedly highlighted the Sardinian capital’s exposure to the influence of mafia groups outside the region. Investigations have revealed investments of illicit capital by organisations from Campania in both the tourist-hotel sector and in the online betting sector.
THE NEED TO REORGANISE THE PUBLIC GAMING GALAXY
The overall picture of the Region of Sardinia that emerged from this research only confirms what the Permanent Observatory on Games, Legality and Pathologies of Eurispes has pointed out in the past in relation to the problems concerning the public gaming offer. For Sardinia, too, a number of evaluations that are common to the various territories are highlighted and proposed, such as the objective of limiting pathological and problematic gaming through a compression of the offer through instruments such as the “distance meter” is substantially missed, since “physical gaming” remains stable and online gaming is on the rise; these instruments appear to be functional to the exercise of pathological gaming, as reported by the ISS; there are clear signs of growth of illegal gaming, also in relation to the compression of public gaming, and in particular in the betting and online sector; The indeterminateness of the legal and regulatory framework and the lack of homogeneity that exists between the policies of the central government and those of local authorities, generate insecurity for businesses that legitimately manage public gaming under concession from the State; also for Sardinia, the “numbers” of employment in the public gaming sector are confirmed to be very significant, and therefore should be adequately considered when determining specific interventions and more general visions of reform of the sector.
Eurispes has repeatedly stated that the public gaming galaxy needs that overall reorganisation that has been unanimously invoked for years, but never really started. The Institute is therefore in favour of an overall reorganisation of the regulatory framework that would result in a single text able to provide certainty to the companies in the sector and, at the same time, protection for users with respect to a qualified and controlled public offer in all aspects.
