Bet365 continues to increase its vice-like grip atop Italy’s online sports betting revenue charts.
Figures released by news agency Agimeg.it show total online sports betting turnover of €309.7m in the month of August, while land-based betting added a further €202.3m. Over the first eight months of 2016, total sports betting turnover is up 17% year-on-year, while the online portion is up 32.4%.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, Bet365 claimed the lion’s share (39.7%) of the online betting spend. Perpetual runner-up Eurobet was well back at €27m (8.7%) while local boys Sisal ranked third with €20.1m, narrowly edging out Snai’s €19.7m, Paddy Power Betfair’s €17.6m and William Hill’s €17m.
The online casino vertical reported revenue of €34.3m in August, up 35% year-on-year. The casino bounty was more evenly distributed, led by Lottomatica’s 11.8% share. Sisal ranked second with 8.5%, while Amaya Gaming’s PokerStars brand ranked third with 7.3%, beating out Eurobet (6.5%) and William Hill (6.3%).
PokerStars continued its utter dominance of the poker vertical, which reported declines in both cash games (€5.3m, -10.3%) and tournament stakes (€4.9m, -3.7%). PokerStars claimed a 50.9% share of the cash games business and a hefty 74.2% of tournaments. No other operators managed double-digit shares on either chart.
Finally, Betfair is believed to control nearly 95% of Italy’s small but growing exchange betting sector, which reported turnover rising 65.5% to €2.7m over the first eight months of 2016.
Italy’s government has enjoyed a significant bump in its gambling tax take so far this year. Overall gambling revenue through August was up 19.3% to €8.2b, with lottery operations up 12.3% to €4.6b and slots and other games rising 37.8% to €3.1b.
