Patrons of online casinos in Italy spent a total of €821 million (US8 million) on regulated games with cash prizes in 2015, an increase of 13 percent year-on-year.
The research was undertaken by the Politecnico di Milano’s Osservatorio Gioco Online, promoted jointly with the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli and Sogei, the technological partner of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Online gaming in Italy accounts for 4.8 percent of total gaming expenditure (online and offline), up from 4.2 percent in 2014. Growth is primarily due to casino games, up 27 percent in 2015, reaching €328 million—40 percent of the overall online market.
Sports betting was up 25 percent to €267 million, accounting for 32 percent of the market, in a year with no major summer sports events. Conversely, the online poker, bingo and virtual betting markets continued to contract, with poker down to 18 percent and bingo and virtual at 7 percent.
Revenue for the state derived from online gaming grew 23 percent year-on-year, to a total of €205 million.
“This year’s research shows how Italy is an attractive market for both Italian and foreign companies,” said Marco Planzi, director of the Politecnico di Milano’s Osservatorio Gioco Online.
“Although a significant concentration process, it’s been under way for some years; some new players among the best known abroad started to operate in the Italian regulated market this year, too.”
“The Italian offer of competitive and regulated games is among the most comprehensive in Europe thanks to the effective activity carried out over the years by the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli. From this point of view, Italy represents a benchmark for Western countries wishing to adopt national license systems, thanks to a regulatory system that ‘puts the consumer at the center’ with its central objectives of forbidding minors from gaming and protecting consumers from fraudulent practices and gaming-related harm.”
