Superbet stands by workforce against Romania gambling venue limits

Super Technologies, (formerly Superbet Group) has asserted its “right to protect its employees and properties” from the impact of Romania’s ongoing transformation of land-based gambling regulation. Romania’s largest gambling firm has confirmed that it will retain staff and repurpose Superbet venues affected by municipal gambling bans, rather than close the premises and make employees redundant. The response follows the government’s Emergency Ordinance OUG 7/2026 on 24 February. The measure, signed by PM Ilie Bolojan, transferred control of the licensing of land-based gambling venues from the National Gambling Office (ONJN) to municipal councils and mayors. Since the application, municipalities control where gambling premises may operate within local boundaries, determining zones and imposing annual local authorisation fees. Councils including Slatina, Bacău, Sibiu, Brăila, Iași and Zalău have since adopted prohibitions, with venue limits applied in ‘zone six’ of the capital of Bucharest. Super notes that “restrictions have not been applied uniformly”, with different municipalities introducing varying exemptions on licences and no limits carried onto Lottery vendors. Superbet sees no control As stands, Super cites that it will respect the legal mechanism that has transferred licensing powers to local councils. The company is reviewing its options to challenge how the mechanism has been applied. Of utmost concern, Super stated that it regrets that employees in Romania have been left to absorb the consequences of the changes. In municipalities where gambling can no longer be conducted, affected Superbet venues will become “Home of Superliga” community centres. The premises will operate as “places where supporters can meet and watch Romanian Superliga fixtures and other major competitions”, and receive face-to-face assistance from existing staff, who will not allow any one-to-one betting to take place. The initiative extends Superbet’s long-standing commitment to Romanian football as the principal commercial partner of the Superliga. It also allows the operator to retain its retail presence while municipal restrictions prevent the premises from conducting betting or gaming activities. Andrei Popa – Superbet Romania Andrei Popa, General Manager of Super Romania, stated: “An administrative decision can change what we are allowed to do in a space, but it cannot cancel the things that unite us. “As the main partner of the Superliga, we have a responsibility towards Romanian football and towards the people who live it. Our agencies already say ‘This is the Superliga’, and we make sure that this remains true, transforming these spaces into places where the community gathers around the sport. “For us, this means being part of a community: staying there even when it is harder.” Super has also opened dialogue with the central government and affected local authorities in an attempt to identify solutions capable of protecting both communities and employment. The scale of the intervention is significant. Superbet operates a nationwide estate of more than 1,000 agencies. The latest available accounts for its principal Romanian operating businesses reported more than 2,600 employees in 2024, the majority connected to its land-based network. Super stands by Romania as home base Romania remains the home of Super Technologies, which was founded in Bucharest by tech entrepreneur Sacha Dragic in 2008 who established Superbet as the market leading brand. A material reduction of its domestic retail estate would therefore carry significance beyond the immediate closure of individual venues. Romania remains a core market supporting the group’s wider international ambitions, backed by the €1.3bn (£1.1bn) capital financing agreement led by PE giant Blackstone and funds managed by HPS Investment Partners in 2025. The financing provides Super with capital for expansion into new markets, technology investment and potential M&A in markets where it sees aggressive expansion potential for the Superbet brand – Poland, Belgium, Greece and Brazil in particular. At home, leadership must now manage an increasingly unpredictable regulatory environment in the market where the Superbet brand was established. Operators and industry lawyers are assessing potential challenges against individual council decisions and the manner in which OUG 7/2026 has been implemented. Super has not publicly confirmed that it has initiated legal proceedings, but it has pledged to continue talks with the authorities while protecting its staff and assets. ONJN crisis deepens The municipal dispute follows several years of upheaval in Romanian gambling. In 2024, Parliament changed venue rules to remove slot-machine operations from localities with populations below 15,000, forcing operators to restructure their retail estates. Further headwinds were imposed with a tax change on 1 August 2026. The Ministry of Finance sanctioned a tax increase on online gambling licences from 21-to-27%, implemented as a measure to tackle Romania’s budget deficit of 7-to-8% deemed as the highest of all CEE nations. Uncertainty has been compounded by PM Ilie Bolojan’s dismissal of ONJN President Vlad-Cristian Soare on 21 August. Soare, who held the position with the rank of state secretary, said he had not been informed of the reasons behind his removal – replaced by Valentin-Ioan Tomescu. The change followed sustained criticism of ONJN over historic failures in tax collection, licensing controls, self-exclusion and market supervision, as well as a corruption investigation involving senior personnel. For licensed operators, the immediate concern is that there is no longer a trusted central authority capable of providing a consistent direction for the market. With municipalities pursuing different policies, legal challenges under consideration and ONJN beginning another leadership transition, the fallout continues without clarity over where Romania’s gambling laws will move next.