New Contract to Boost Online Gaming in Italy

Internet gambling in Italy has been fully legal since early 2007. The country’s online gambling industry is already quite strong, but a recent contract is expected to push the industry forward at an even quicker pace. A license agreement has just been signed between Microgame, Italy’s largest independent provider of remote gaming services, and Net Entertainment, a company that provides software and games for online casinos. This new contract means that Net Entertainment will be the casino provider of choice for Microgame.

Microgame caters specifically to Italian customers. They have been in operation since the mid 1990s, and currently hold a 25% market share in Italy’s online poker market, and a 28% share in the country’s internet sports betting operations. During the 2008 fiscal year, Microgame’s revenues exceeded 85 million Euros. Online poker, online casinos, and online gambling in Italy are extremely popular, and these numbers attest to the value of the Italian market. In fact, Italy’s gambling industry (both online and offline) is expected to generate in excess of 17 billion Euro in 2009, making it the third largest industry in the country.

This new license agreement will help Microgame increase their online portfolio by taking advantage of the products that Net Entertainment has to offer. The online gaming market in Italy is still fairly young, and the agreement puts Microgame is in a strategic position to take advantage of the industry’s growth. Italy was the first country in Europe to regulate domestic online gambling, and their industry has provided a model upon which other European countries have fashioned their online gambling regulation and licensing schemes. Italy’s liberal stance on internet gambling also allows foreign operators to obtain licenses and to offer online gambling services to Italian players. The rest of the world would do well to follow Italy’s lead.