Italy’s regulated sports betting market suffered a bit of a setback in April, but don’t blame online operators.
Figures published Friday by Italian gaming news outlet Agimeg show total sports betting turnover of €955m in the month of April, down nearly 5% from the same month last year. Betting revenue was also negative, falling 2% year-on-year to €146.5m.
The declines weren’t online betting operators’ fault, as online betting revenue improved 3.7% to €58.7m, while retail betting revenue slipped 8.1% to €87.8m. For the first four months of the year, online betting revenue is up 47.6% to €221m while retail revenue is up 45.6% to €310.5m.
Virtual betting – wagering on the outcome of digitally simulated sports – continues to be a major force in Italy, with turnover of over €139.3m and revenue of €20.5m in April. Compare that to wagering on horseraces, which managed turnover of just €35.3m and revenue of €8.4m.
On the online casino front, April’s revenue shot up 28.6% to €58.1m, bringing the year-to-date total to €233.3m (+39.7%). The Stars Group’s flagship PokerStars brand claimed first prize (but just barely) on the revenue chart with an 8.67% share, just an unlucky slot spin or two above Lottomatica’s 8.65% and Sisal’s 8.59%.
Online poker tournament entry fees totaled €6.6m in April, roughly flat from the same month last year. PokerStars continued its tournament dominance with a 62.9% share, but this was down 7.8 points from April 2017. Sisal played a very distant second with a 6.8% share, while Snaitech ranked third with 6%.
Online poker cash games had a rougher April, as revenue fell 5% to €5.3m. PokerStars claimed 39.6% of this pot, with runner-up Lottomatica well back at 7.7% and Sisal in third with 6.7%.
Online bingo spending totaled €9.9m, while revenue came in just under €2.4m. Tombola Interactive claimed a nearly 42% share of the bingo market, while GVC Holdings’ Bwin brand ranked second with 13.6%.
As for you online gambling operators not holding an Italian license, the local regulator’s online blacklist now stands at over 7,100 wicked, wicked domains.
