‘Friendly’ Playing Field in Italy

Italy’s online sports betting market almost doubled its turnover in February in a year-over-year basis. It’s a heartening sign in a market that endured a tough 2014.

Turnover in Italy’s online sports betting almost doubled last month over the same period last year. According to JD Supra Business Advisor, the market generated €227.7 million (US2 million) in February.

“Revenues, on the contrary, were in line with the previous year at €20.2 million due to punter-friendly results,” the website noted. “But this shows that the market restarted growing after a difficult 2014.”

The market benefited from the shutdown of unlicensed dot-com operations who targeted Italian players and the addition of 2,400 authorized betting shops. The simultaneous entry of big-name operators also is expected to win back players who had resorted to the unregulated market.