Italy’s online sports betting market saw modest growth in 2012 as amounts staked are starting to kick the industry into action. AAMS figures show that betting turnover rose 2.37 percent to €3.94billion, with a huge dollop of thanks due to Euro 2012 and the Olympics. The amount of stakes shot up by 9.7 percent with betting firms taking in a combined €3.94bn – up from €3.85bn last year. The amount of live betting events offered in 2012 grew 54 percent when compared to the previous year with a total of 5,323 offered. In terms of market share three firms account for two thirds of all online sports betting that goes on in Italy. Snai dominates with 31.07 percent of the market with Lottomatica the only other firm close on 20.72 percent and Match Point making up 13.16 percent.
One of those companies at the head of the market – Snai – will have a new GameAccount Network casino channel on Snai’s dot.it site. Monte Carlo features land-based content from IGT and Aristocrat as well as exclusive games developed by GAN for Snai and it follows the opening up of the Italian online slots market last month.
Mobile casino firm Locus Gaming has removed the shroud of mystery with the release of their first product. Jack Wild Casino can be played on smartphones and tablets, and is made up of slot games, roulette and blackjack. Company director Ed Andrewes, formerly of Ladbrokes, explained to eGR there are “issues over the presentation of the site on some devices particularly for older smartphones”. He also admitted they’re experiencing some problems with the sheer amount of different software versions they’re developing for but that “work is ongoing and you can rest assure we will continue to work hard on improving the service across both legacy and future platforms.”
