Online Gaming Market Revenues in Italy – Numbers are Thriving

The last year have not been easy for Italy – of course, it is true to almost every country in the world. But still, they had their fair share of the difficulties. Although there is one field that have not felt any issues lately. It even started to flourish more than ever. It is the online gaming market in Italy that is living its heydays if we consider revenues.

There were sectors that suffered the hardships of the past year. Think about all those closed restaurants, cafés and other venues, cancelled concerts, not to mention the healthcare. So, it might come as a surprise that some territories of the economy did not experience any troubles. But the numbers given by the Agenzia delle dogane e dei Monopoli show that in January the online gaming market revenues broke record for the third straight month in Italy.

What is up in Italy?

The online wagering business in Italy is considered to be quite loose. According to statista.com “In Italy, gambling, betting, and lotteries are legal. To operate, providers have to acquire a gambling license.” But there are not any really strict measures set up to operators – lucky for them. It means wagers can go to land-based casinos (in regular times. of course) and play some slot machines or poker games. They can also check up to online gambling sites in Italy, such as Bet365, and try their luck with them. There were two waves of gambling liberation in 2006 and 2007, but ever since then the field have stayed field pretty much the same. So, what has changed that raised online gaming market revenues in Italy?

Why online gaming market revenues peak in Italy?

There are some reasons we can think about. The number of machines to play video lottery games on increased a lot since 2015. This was because more people were already shifting to online casino sites in Italy. Last year’s happenings even accelerated the process. This state clearly affected land-based casinos and pushed more people to online casino sites in Italy. People felt more safe placing bets from their home. And on the other hand, the government closed the land-based options down, so did not have any other choice. As for now, the bricks-and-mortar gaming venues are still closed as Italy’s new Prime Minister Mario Draghi ordered it.

How much online gaming market revenues grow in Italy?

The above-mentioned Agenzia delle dogane e dei Monopoli released figures, processed by Ficom Leisure. They show that online casino and slot machine operators generated an amazing 162.85 million euro in revenue in January. This is 6% up compared to the previous month. Moreover, it is 99% up in comparison with the same period in 2019. Which is a truly unbelievable growth! The whole market’s Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) stood 335.9 million euros. And all the online gaming businesses and operators can except this to go even further. The numbers show that there is a continuation of strong upward momentum generated by operators in H2 2020.

To go little more into details, casinos and slots gave 48.47% of the revenue. Sports betting was a little lower last year than expected. It is understandable, since there were significantly less sports event to bet on. But in January they contributed 42.76% to the overall income. It is though less than it was in December. Hopefully, the field could normalize throughout 2021. There have also been good news to an online sportsbook sites in Italy. Bet365 bounced to the third place – from the sixth – in the sports betting market with garnering 12.2% market share. Keep imp the good work!

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