Albania Prepares to License Up to 10 Online Sports Betting Operators, Ending Seven-Year Ban

Albania is preparing to end a seven-year blanket ban on sports betting, with the government finalizing a regulatory framework that will allow up to 10 online operators to take legal wagers in the Balkan nation. The move reverses key parts of a 2019 prohibition that stripped betting halls, slot halls, and every online gambling vertical from the legal market.

Unregulated sports betting activity never actually went away during the ban. The black market generated an estimated $229 million in gross gaming revenue in 2025 alone, according to industry estimates, giving Albanian regulators a strong financial incentive to bring that activity back under a licensed, taxed structure rather than continuing to cede it to unregulated operators. The 2019 ban was originally sold as a way to curb problem gambling and organized-crime ties to unlicensed betting shops, but seven years later, officials appear to have concluded that prohibition simply pushed demand underground rather than eliminating it.

Parliament approved the framework for a partial reopening back in February 2024, but it took more than two years and eight separate implementing regulations for the government to translate that law into an operational licensing system. The final two bylaws, covering license suspension and revocation procedures, were not approved until June of this year.

How the New Licensing Framework Works

Albania’s Council of Ministers adopted Decision No. 194 on March 26, 2026, which took effect on March 30 and laid out the competitive procedure, scoring system, and timelines for awarding licenses. The Gambling Supervisory Authority and a dedicated Licensing Commission will jointly run a single-stage application process, with the commission deciding how many licenses to issue in each round, up to the nationwide cap of 10.

Once a competitive round opens, applicants get 45 calendar days to submit documentation and must pay a non-refundable application fee of roughly €5,100. Companies must register as Albanian joint-stock entities, show gambling experience in at least three EU or OECD markets, and demonstrate turnover of about €20 million in the prior financial year, along with at least €400,000 in share capital. That bar is designed to draw established international operators rather than untested startups.

Applicants will be ranked on a 100-point scale: 30 points for the economic offer (essentially, the license fee bid), 30 for gambling-sector experience, 20 for organizational and administrative capacity, 15 for technology and software capability, and 5 for a multi-year business plan. Ties are broken by lottery. The minimum license fee sits at roughly €4 million, payable in installments across the 10-year license term.

What Bettors and Operators Can Expect

This time around, only online betting will be permitted — physical betting shops and slot halls remain barred, and casino gaming stays confined to a small number of five-star hotels. Every bettor will need to register using a national identity card, cash wagering is prohibited outright, and all payments must run through Albanian banks or approved electronic payment providers.

Licensed operators will also be required to monitor transactions, retain player records for at least three years, and plug into Albania’s national self-exclusion register, which reportedly will let family members request that a relative be excluded from gambling. Operators face steep penalties for non-compliance too: two licensing violations within three years can trigger a suspension of 30 days to two years, and a third violation can mean outright revocation.

On the revenue side, licensed sportsbooks will direct 15% of gross gaming revenue into a special government fund earmarked for culture, sport, technology, and innovation, on top of Albania’s standard 15% corporate tax rate. The government projects the newly regulated market could generate around €20 million annually in public revenue once operators are up and running.

A Tightly Capped Market With High Barriers to Entry

The most notable feature of Albania’s approach is just how selective it’s designed to be. Rather than opening the floodgates to any operator willing to pay a fee, the government has built a system that favors large, experienced, well-capitalized companies with a track record across multiple regulated markets. The requirement for three years of experience in at least three EU or OECD jurisdictions, combined with the €20 million turnover threshold, effectively rules out smaller or regional operators from competing for one of the 10 available licenses.

That scarcity is likely intentional. Regulators appear to be betting that a small number of serious, well-funded operators will generate more reliable tax revenue and better compliance than a crowded field of smaller players. It also means the Licensing Commission retains discretion — the law caps licenses at 10, but the commission decides how many to award in each round, so the market could open with just a handful of operators rather than the full complement.

For international sportsbook brands already operating across Europe, Albania represents a small but symbolically important addition to their regulated footprint, especially as more jurisdictions in Southeastern Europe move to formalize betting markets that had previously operated in legal gray areas. The requirement to publish licensing calls in international media, including at least two foreign newspapers, signals that Albanian officials are actively courting the same multinational operators that dominate other regulated sports betting markets across the globe.

What’s still unclear is timing. Albania’s Gambling Supervisory Authority confirmed in July that all eight implementing regulations required for the framework were complete, but authorities have not set a firm date for when the first competitive licensing round will open. Albania’s tightly capped, high-barrier approach means only a handful of well-capitalized operators are likely to make the initial cut whenever that round finally begins.