Italy’s sports betting market took a hit in June due to the lack of a certain marquee global football tournament.
Figures released by Italy’s Agenzia della Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM) regulatory body show overall sports betting revenue of €82.5m in the month of June. That’s a significant (26.9%) decline from the same month last year, which featured the opening matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. It’s also significantly below May 2019’s €134.1m, although it was essentially flat with June 2017’s figure.
June’s retail wagering totaled €40m, down 38.7% year-on-year, while online wagering slipped a relatively minor 10.7% to €42.5m. Bet365’s local site was the clear online betting market leader with a 21.3% share, while runner-up Snaitech (12.4%) relegated traditional number-two SKS365 to third place (11.2%).
The online casino vertical avoided any post-World Cup suffering, rising 12.7% year-on-year to €62.5m, although this failed to top May 2019’s €70m online casino total. The Stars Group’s PokerStars brand retained its online casino dominance with a 10.5% share, well ahead of runner-up Lottomatica (7.9%).
Italy’s online poker market endured double-digit declines in June, with tournament spending down 11.1% year-on-year to €5.5m, while cash games slipped 10.7% to €4.4m. PokerStars claimed a 60.5% share of the tournament total and a 42.4% share of cash games.
Meanwhile, French online gambling operator Betclic Everest Group has launched a legal action protesting its disqualification from participating in Italy’s recent betting license tender. Betclic was one of 10 companies that were either prevented from applying for a new Italian license or withdrew their application following Italy’s advertising crackdown and other regulatory restrictions.
A court hearing was held last week at which Betclic attorneys submitted written evidence seeking to overturn the ADM’s decision. Betclic maintains that the ADM has yet to provide any explanation for what the company had done to deserve exclusion. A decision is expected to be handed down within two months.
