Online Sports Betting in Italy Becoming More and More Popular

Online betting market in Italy continues to improve.

According to the latest news coming from Italy, sports betting has recorded a slight drop in the last month, but online operators are not to blame for such a result.

Agimeg published a report last Friday, which showed total sports betting turnover in April was at €955 million, representing a drop of nearly 5% when compared to the same month of 2017.

Numbers Vary

Betting revenue has also recorded a decline, with €146.5 million being  2% less on a yearly basis.

On the other hand, online betting revenue improved by 3.7% to €58.7 million, while retail betting revenue went down by 8.1% to €87.8 million.

Figures released for the first four months of 2018 show that online betting revenue is up 47.6% to €221 million, and retail revenue is up 45.6% to €310.5 million.

Virtual betting – which represents wagering on the outcome of digitally simulated sports – is still a big factor in the Italian market, with turnover of more than €139.3 million and revenue of €20.5 million recorded during April.

Horse races are far less popular, which is seen in the numbers: its turnover reached the number of €35.3 million, and revenue of €8.4 million.

Online Casino Revenue Going Up

The revenue of online casinos went up by 28.6% to €58.1 million in April. Since the beginning of the year, online casinos generated  €233.3 million in revenue,  which is an increase of 39.7% when compared to the same period of last year.

PokerStars brand accounted for 8.67% of the total revenue, slightly above Lottomatica’s 8.65%, and Sisal’s 8.59%.

Online poker tournament entry fees in April reached €6.6 million in total, which is nearly the same as in the corresponding month of  last year.

PokerStars came in first again with 62.9% share, while Sisal accounted for 6.8%, and Snaitech ranked third with 6%.

Online poker cash games revenue went down by 5% in April, to €5.3 million. PokerStars is again the leader with a share of 39.6%, with Lottomatica following with 7.7%, and Sisal with 6.7%.

Online bingo spending were at €9.9 million, while revenue was just under €2.4 million. Tombola Interactive accounted for 42%, while GVC Holdings-owned Bwin brand was in the second place with 13.6%.