Online Casino Grows in Italy, Sports Betting Not Doing so Good

The poor results are attributed to the winter break of Italy’s top-tier league, Serie A.

The Italian sports betting industry didn’t start in 2019 in the right way, as the latest report reveals a drop in revenue.

According to the country’s regulatory body, Agenzia della Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM), sports betting revenue in Italy recorded €124.6 million in revenue in January, which represents a decrease of 17.2% when compared to the corresponding period of 2018.

Sports Betting Records a Drop

These poor results are attributed to the winter break of Italy’s top-tier league, Serie A. Still, the figures in January were much better than those in December 2018. The last month of the year ended with an annual drop of 55%.

Online vertical was also down in January, generating betting revenue of €58.1 million, 4.4% less than in the same period of 2018. Bet365 dominates the local market, with a share of around 18%, SKS365 is the runner-up with a share of 12.8%, while Playtech-owned Snaitech brand closely follows with 11%

At the same time, retail betting revenue decreased by 26% to €66.5 million. The biggest slice of the market “cake” – 20.4% – was claimed by Intralot/Goldbet. Snaitech’s share was at 17%, while Eurobet brand, owned by GVC Holdings, was placed third with 14.3%.

Online is the Place to Be

On the other hand, the online casino market had a record-breaking January, generating€72 million in revenue, which is 20.5% more on a yearly basis. PokerStars claimed the biggest market share of 10.6%, followed by Lottomatica, with 8.3% and Sisal, with 7.6%.

Online poker tournament revenue went up by 23.6% to €8.9 million, with cash games improving by 5.2% to €6 million. PokerStars had the biggest share in both tournaments and cash games, with 63.4% and 39.5% respectively. It should be noted that no other operator succeeded in claiming a two-digit share.

Last, but definitely not the least, was virtual betting, with €25.8 million in January, which is an improvement of 19.2% over the same month of last year.

In the meantime, the country’s recently imposed ban on gambling advertising is showing benefits for operators based outside of Italy. This shows the government could be collecting even more money in tax revenue from this sector, as Italians continue to gamble more and more online.