Albania Moves Toward Regulated Sports Betting Market as International Operators Prepare for Entry

Albania is moving closer to reopening its sports betting market after years of prohibition, with the government preparing a tightly controlled online licensing system that could allow up to 10 operators to enter the market. The shift represents a significant change in policy after a seven-year ban failed to eliminate betting activity and instead pushed a substantial portion of the market into unregulated online channels.

Sports betting was effectively prohibited in Albania in 2019, alongside betting shops, slot halls and online gambling. The decision followed growing concerns about gambling addiction, the widespread availability of betting and allegations that parts of the industry had links to organised crime. Before the prohibition, the country had a substantial retail betting sector, with around 4,000 betting shops operating in a population of slightly more than 2.8 million. Annual sports betting turnover was estimated at approximately €700 million in 2018.

The ban, however, did not eliminate demand. Instead, betting migrated increasingly to offshore and unregulated websites. Estimates suggest that unregulated online sports betting generated approximately $117 million in gross gaming revenue in 2024, increasing to around $126 million in 2025. When online casino and poker activity is included, the estimated value of Albania's unregulated online gambling market reached approximately $229 million last year.

The persistence of the black market has been a major factor behind the government's change in approach. Rather than attempting to suppress betting entirely, authorities are now seeking to move at least part of the activity into a regulated environment where operators can be licensed, monitored and taxed.

The policy change is not entirely new. Albania passed legislation in 2024 providing the legal basis for reopening online sports betting, but the practical implementation of the new regime took considerably longer. During 2026, authorities worked on the regulations and procedures necessary to establish the licensing framework, with the government announcing in July that the required regulatory package had been completed.

The new system will be substantially different from Albania's pre-2019 gambling environment. The government does not intend to recreate the extensive network of physical betting shops that existed before the ban. Instead, the reopening will focus exclusively on online sports betting.

Retail betting shops and slot halls are expected to remain prohibited, while casino operations will continue to be restricted to a limited number of establishments operating within five-star hotels. This means that the regulated market will be significantly narrower than the industry that existed before the 2019 prohibition.

The number of online sports betting licences will also be capped. The legislation allows for up to 10 operators to receive licences, with the precise number to be determined by the Licensing Commission during each licensing round. This creates a highly selective market in which access to a licence could become considerably more valuable than in jurisdictions operating unrestricted licensing systems.

The licensing framework was established through Decision No. 194, adopted by Albania's Council of Ministers on 26 March 2026. The decision sets out the competitive procedure, evaluation criteria, timelines and scoring methodology that will govern the award of online sports betting licences. The process is administered through the Gambling Supervisory Authority together with the Licensing Commission.

Applicants will be required to participate in a competitive process rather than simply applying for a licence under an open-door system. Once a competition notice is issued, applicants will have 45 calendar days to submit the required documentation. An application fee of ALL 500,000, equivalent to approximately €5,100, is also payable and is non-refundable.

The competitive structure is likely to favour established operators with substantial financial resources and experience in regulated international markets. The limited number of licences means that applicants will not simply be competing on their ability to satisfy minimum regulatory requirements. They will also need to demonstrate that they can meet the evaluation criteria applied by the Albanian authorities.

This is particularly relevant for international operators because Albania's new framework appears designed to avoid recreating the highly fragmented domestic betting industry that existed before the ban. A limited number of well-capitalised operators could provide regulators with a more manageable market to supervise while giving licensed businesses sufficient scale to operate profitably.

International operators may consequently have a strong incentive to examine Albania's market despite the country's relatively small population. The opportunity is not necessarily based on the size of the legal market today, but on the potential to convert existing offshore demand into regulated activity.

The extent to which this will happen remains uncertain. Seven years of prohibition have allowed offshore operators to establish relationships with Albanian customers, and those customers may not automatically migrate to locally licensed platforms. The success of the new system will therefore depend partly on the authorities' ability to channel existing demand towards regulated operators.

Channelisation will be one of the most important issues facing the new regime. If customers continue using offshore websites even after licensed operators become available, the government may struggle to achieve its objectives of bringing betting activity into the formal economy.

Enforcement will therefore be critical. A licensing framework can establish legal operators, but it cannot by itself eliminate unlicensed competitors. Authorities will need to identify and restrict illegal websites, prevent prohibited operators from targeting Albanian customers and work with payment providers and other intermediaries to disrupt access to the black market.

The experience since 2019 demonstrates why this issue matters. The continued existence of a significant unregulated market suggests that demand remained strong even when legal supply was removed. A successful regulated system will therefore need to offer customers sufficiently attractive products and payment options while simultaneously making illegal alternatives more difficult to access.

The online-only structure could make this enforcement challenge both easier and more complicated. Digital operators can be monitored through technological and transactional controls, but offshore websites can also change domains, payment channels and corporate structures relatively quickly.

The new framework will therefore require effective oversight of operators' technical systems as well as their corporate and financial arrangements. Regulators will need to ensure that licensed businesses implement appropriate player identification, responsible gambling measures, financial controls and reporting obligations.

The transition also creates opportunities for the development of a more transparent gambling sector. Moving activity from offshore websites into licensed businesses gives authorities greater visibility over betting volumes, customer activity and operator revenues.

From a financial crime perspective, this increased visibility can be particularly important. A regulated environment allows authorities and financial institutions to establish clearer expectations regarding customer identification, payment flows, suspicious activity and the movement of gambling proceeds.

The history of Albania's betting market also explains why responsible gambling and AML controls are likely to receive particular attention. The original prohibition was partly driven by concerns over the social impact of widespread betting, while allegations concerning organised crime created additional pressure for stronger oversight. The new market will therefore need to balance commercial objectives with safeguards designed to prevent gambling-related financial crime and consumer harm.

For international operators, Albania presents an unusual combination of opportunity and regulatory risk. The market is effectively being created from a long period of prohibition, meaning there is substantial existing demand but limited experience with the operation of a modern regulated online betting sector.

The restricted number of licences is another important consideration. With a maximum of 10 operators, the market will not support unlimited entry. Companies securing licences could therefore benefit from a relatively protected competitive environment, while unsuccessful applicants would have no straightforward route to operate legally until another licensing opportunity becomes available.

This scarcity could make the initial licensing round particularly competitive. International operators with established compliance frameworks, strong financial resources and experience in multiple regulated jurisdictions may have an advantage over smaller businesses that lack the resources necessary to satisfy the regulatory and commercial requirements.

The framework also provides Albania with an opportunity to attract international expertise into the market. Established operators can bring technology, responsible gambling systems, payment infrastructure and compliance experience that may be more difficult to develop from scratch domestically.

At the same time, regulators will need to ensure that international applicants genuinely meet Albania's requirements rather than relying solely on their reputation in other jurisdictions. A strong track record elsewhere does not remove the need for effective local oversight.

The market's tax and commercial economics will also be important in determining whether operators are willing to enter. A high cost of entry combined with a limited number of licences can create a significant initial investment requirement. Operators will therefore need to assess the likely level of channelisation and customer acquisition before committing substantial resources to the market.

The economics of the regulated market will ultimately depend on how much of the existing offshore activity can be transferred to licensed platforms. If channelisation is high, the limited number of operators could create an attractive market. If offshore operators retain a substantial share of customers, licensed businesses may find it more difficult to justify the costs associated with entry.

Another important consideration is that Albania is reopening only online sports betting rather than establishing a broad online gambling market. Operators whose business models depend heavily on online casino or poker will therefore have limited opportunities under the current framework.

This narrow product scope could nevertheless help regulators concentrate resources on one major gambling vertical rather than attempting to supervise a broad range of online products immediately after the country's long prohibition.

The government has also made clear that it does not want to return to the conditions that existed before 2019. The objective is not simply to legalise betting again, but to establish a more controlled market that can operate within a defined regulatory structure.

The policy shift therefore represents an attempt to address one of the central problems created by prohibition: the state had limited control over an activity that continued to take place regardless of its legal status.

By bringing sports betting into a licensed environment, Albania can potentially capture tax revenues, impose regulatory requirements and gain greater oversight of operators and customers. At the same time, it will need to maintain effective enforcement against unlicensed alternatives to prevent the regulated market from being undermined.

The coming licensing process will consequently be closely watched by the international gambling industry. With the framework now largely established, the next major question is when the first competition will formally open and how many of the available licences will actually be awarded.

For operators considering entry, the opportunity is significant but should not be viewed as a conventional open-market launch. Albania is creating a capped, online-only sports betting market with limited access and substantial regulatory expectations.

The country's experience since 2019 also offers a broader lesson for gambling regulators. Prohibition does not necessarily remove demand for gambling products. Where consumers continue to seek those products through offshore channels, governments may ultimately face a choice between attempting to suppress the activity entirely and establishing a controlled framework through which it can be monitored and taxed.

Albania has now opted for the latter approach. The challenge will be turning that policy decision into an effective regulated market capable of attracting customers away from illegal operators while maintaining the safeguards that were central to the original decision to prohibit betting.

If the licensing process succeeds, Albania could become an interesting new market for established international sportsbook operators seeking regulated opportunities in Europe. But its success will depend less on simply issuing licences than on the ability of the authorities to enforce the new regime, maintain strong compliance standards and persuade consumers that licensed betting provides a sufficiently attractive alternative to the offshore market.

By fLEXI tEAM