TLDR
- Romania’s Emergency Ordinance 7/2026 gives local councils power over gambling licensing starting in February 2026.
- Many Superbet shop licenses expired on August 31, forcing changes on September 1.
- Superbet created a new “Home of Superliga” format that bans betting slips and slot machines but still handles online account deposits.
- A September 1 count found Superbet’s network split into four different shop types across Romania.
- A separate report found mismatched records in Romania’s gambling database, with some machines showing conflicting statuses.
Romania’s gambling industry faced a change on September 1. Superbet, one of the country’s largest bookmakers, altered how many of its shops operate.
The change came from a law that gives local governments control over gambling within their towns.
A New Law Shifts Power to Local Councils
Emergency Ordinance 7/2026 passed in February. It let city councils decide whether gambling can happen in their area at all.
Councils can now set rules on where shops operate. They can also charge a local fee based on the size of each location.
Before this law, a national gambling license was enough to run a shop anywhere in Romania. That is no longer the case.
Older licenses were given some protection at first. Many of them expired on August 31, which made September 1 an important date for the industry.
Betting Shops Without Betting
Superbet responded by creating a new type of location called Home of Superliga.
These shops cannot take betting slips. They also cannot run slot machines.
Superbet describes the locations as places where football fans can gather to watch matches.
The shops still play a role in the gambling business though. Customers can deposit and withdraw money from their online Superbet and Napoleon accounts inside these locations.
Staff can help customers set up online accounts. They can also show customers how to use the Superbet app and website.
Self-service machines inside these shops can still be used, but only for online account deposits, not for placing bets.
Not every Superbet shop changed the same way. A count from September 1 found 108 locations still offering both betting and slots, 37 offering betting only, and 96 offering slots only.
Customers with winning tickets from Home of Superliga locations cannot collect their money there anymore. Superbet tells them to visit a nearby shop that still offers full betting service.
Staff at Home of Superliga locations can help with this process if no other shop is close by.
Superbet says it will keep checking IDs and enforcing self-exclusion rules at these locations. Customers under 18 are still barred from entering.
A report published September 1 by Oficiul de Știri found a mismatch in Romania’s gambling database. Several Superbet machines in Timișoara, Constanța and Năvodari showed an expired authorization from August 31 while still appearing as operational in the system.
One machine in Bucharest showed an expired status, an operational status, and an unapproved status all at once.
The mismatch does not confirm any machine was used illegally. Public databases can take time to update after a licensing change.
