Italian Sports Betting Market Springs Back to Life in April

It looks like Italy’s sports betting market somehow managed to come back to life during the month of April, after showing some really disappointing results in March.

The Italian regulatory body, also known as Agenzia della Dogane e dei Monopoli (), revealed the official figures…

…which are showing that the licensed sports betting operators in this European country amassed revenue of €173.6 million during the last month.

This nice amount is actually an 18.5% rise comparing to the results from the same month last year and quite happy news compared to the 4.2% year-on-year decline reported in March.

More Details on the Sports Betting Figures

When it comes to land-based wagering, it actually improved and rose 11.6% to €98.1 million…

…while online betting revenue rose 28.8% to €75.5 million.

Goldbet had the biggest part in that with 15.1% of the overall betting revenue, while Snaitech had 14.5% and GVC Holdings’ Eurobet brand 13.5%.

Bet365 was the highest-ranking online-only operator and was seventh overall with a 6.3% share.

Online casino licensed operators reported revenue of €67.4 million in April, which is actually 16.1% higher in comparison to the same month last year.

The Stars Group’s flagship brand PokerStars was the best among the online casinos with an 11.1% share…

…while Sisal (8%) and Lottomatica (7.6%) were less successful.

PokerStars Still Dominates the Market

PokerStars maintained its dominant presence in the Italian online poker market, in which tournament revenue actually rose 1.2% to €6.7 million during the month of April.

Cash games, on the other hand, were unable to perform like they do in other European Union markets and fell 2.9% to €5.2 million. PokerStars managed to hold a 61.4% share of the tournament take and a 42.3% share of cash games.

Compared to last year’s numbers, sports betting revenue managed to rise 6% to €564.5 million…

…with retail coming flat at just under €310 million and online up nearly 15% to €254.6 million over the past four months of 2019.

Online casino revenue rose 17.2% to €273.4 million, while tournament poker fell 2.3% to €30.1 million, and cash games decreased 11.5% to €21.5 million.

Gambling Advertising Restrictions

Currently, there are new restrictions when it comes to gambling advertising in Italy, which is actually the main focus right now.

Just last week, the Associazione Europea Consumatori Independenti (AECI) consumer group asked the country’s telecom watchdog AGCOM to investigate whether PokerStars’ promo video “encourages gambling and is associated with strong emotions, such as a sense of revenge, the exaltation of your self-esteem and ability.”

At the beginning of the year, Italian market has suffered a so-called “blanket ban” on advertising…

…since the country’s Dignity Decree bans operators from promoting or broadcasting betting services as well as sponsorships.

Existing arrangements with clubs will be allowed until the contract expiry dates since the law blocks operators from renewing partnerships or making any further sponsorship deals.

Source:

“Italy’s sports betting market roars back to life in April”, Steven Stradbrooke, calvinayre.com, May 8, 2019.