Online betting operator Bet365’s share of Italy’s regulated sports betting market continues to shrink even as its overall turnover grows.
Italian gaming media outlet Agimeg.it reported that Italian-licensed sites took in €410.4m in sports betting wagers in the month of October. Bet365 claimed €137.1m of this total, representing a 33% share. That’s down from 35% in September and 39.7% in August.
Perennial runner-up Eurobet (part of the Gala Coral Group) reported turnover of €38.2m, up from €34.5m in September, while local boys Sisal ranked third with €29.5m (+€4m). Snai ranked fourth (€27.9m, +€3.3m) followed by William Hill (€26.5m, +€2.9m). Recent market entrant Betaland continued its strong showing, holding on to 10th spot with turnover of €12.9m, up from €10m in September.
The online casino vertical reported overall revenue of €39m, up 27% year-on-year. The vertical is led by Lottomatica (11.2% share), followed by Sisal (9%), Eurobet (7%), Amaya Gaming’s PokerStars (6.4%) and William Hill (5.8%).
Switching to poker, total tournament entry fees fell 11% year-on-year to €5.5m, while PokerStars’ tournament dominance slipped to 68.5% from 74.2% in September. Cash game stakes fell 15% to €5.8m, and Stars’ share fell to 43.2% from September’s 47.3%.
Online bingo revenue rose 8.2% year-on-year to €2.3m. Tombola holds the dominant share (37%) of the online bingo market, more than twice that of closest rival Bwin (17.5%) while third-place finisher Lottomatica is even further back at 12%.
Shifting to the land-based industry, Italy’s four brick-and-mortar casinos generated revenue of €26.5m in October, with slots accounting for €16.1m, well ahead of top table game roulette’s €2.4m.
ROME TO BAN SLOTS?
Virginia Raggi, the mayor of Rome, launched a campaign this week to purge slots, video poker and amusement with prizes machines from the city center. Raggi’s campaign, which is centered around the slogan ‘Rome is not Las Vegas,’ seeks to remove all electronic gaming machines (EGM) from bars, shops and shopping centers in the heart of the old city.
Raggi also wants to impose new restrictions on EGM being placed within 500 meters of schools, churches, sports facilities and ATMs (the current restriction is 1km). EGM would also be restricted to operating between the hours of 10am to 2pm and from 6pm to 10pm. Their use would be totally restricted on public holidays.
There are currently 294 gaming venues offering over 50k EGM in Rome, representing about 12% of the country’s total complement. Raggi’s plan is meeting with fierce pushback from the gaming industry and is a long way from becoming law, but some councilors are already pushing for the ban to be extended to include Rome’s suburbs.
