Italy Market Full of Fruitful Figures to Close 2020

Italy closed strong in 2020 to assert the resilience of iGaming.

December's Strength

In research disclosed by Ficom Leisure to iGB, the country's online verticals pulled revenues of €359m for the final month of 2020 for a 38.7% month-on-month rise from November’s €258.9m and an 86% year-on-year increase for the month of December.

Sportsbooks Record Month

The hike was driven primarily by online sportsbooks, which turned in record-breaking revenue of €177.1m for December, good for a 59.5% year-on-year jump from November’s total and 94.2% year-on-year.

Land-based Resuscitation

With land-based retail sports betting outlets closed due to covid-related restrictions, the online market was relied upon heavily by the industry, with some difficulties maintaining the ship when the shutdowns first hit.

Retailers Go Online

Adaptations to online revenue were visible for the year in the activity of the most prominent online betting operators in the market, with five retail operators actually placing ahead of long time online market leader bet365 in the online sector for the second month in a row.

Market Share Leaders

In December Goldbet took the online market lead at a 12.8% market share, followed by Sisal (12.5%); Snai (11.7%); Eurobet (11.4%); and Planetwin365 (11.1%).

Online Operator Shifts

While Bet365’s online market share fell to 10.2%, PokerStars climbed back into the top 10 for the first time in almost a year.

Total Industry Performance

A total €0.6m loss in retail dropped the combined online and land-based sports market to €176.5m for the month, still far behind the market record of €243.39m set in October; and December 2019’s €216.24m.

Online's Robust December

The online sector was most robust in December, with a record total of €153.8m representing a massive 24.4% month-on-month rise and equally impressive 80.6% year-on-year increase.

Top Individual Performers

At the individual level, the top three operators in Italy by total market share remained the same: Pokerstars (11.46%), Sisal (9.06%) and Lottomatica (7.93%).

Poker Strong

Poker revenues also experienced strong month-on-month increases for December, at 8.7% for tournaments and 15.1% for cash games.

Outlook

The robust market and strong finish to 2020 for the overall Italian market is further vital evidence of the ability of iGaming to keep the industry afloat in a resilient and productive manner in the year when the land-based industry was almost sacked by Covid.