When Fences Come Down, Italy May Be Leader of the Pack in Europe
Published April 22, 2017 by Lee R
The progress in one of Europe’s largest markets reflects the general trend in Europe towards bringing the fences down.
Comments made Tuesday to AssoPoker by the head of Italy Online Gaming regulation Agenzia delle dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM) Daria Petralia at a Milan online gambling conference disclosed “significant progress” in ongoing discussions to share liquidity.
Italy’s Final Draft
A major Agenzia analysis presentation scheduled for a May meeting in Brussels is will introduce the new framework for sharing liquidity operations among Italy-facing operators and operators licensed in other European markets.
Fencing Down Integration
All lingering regulation struggles of Italy have been attributed to constrictive components in their regulation models which limit player competition: these components may be fully addressed by the middle of the year in an integrated liquidity model modifying restrictive market components via respective French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and UK gambling regulation proposals due in Brussels as well.
Market Rank
Overall in Italy, licensed online gambling operators generated €1.03 billion for a 25% year-on-year jump, a revenue performance the Agenzia ranked as second only to the UK and ahead of France and Spain (4th).
Leading Vertical
The leading vertical performer in the Italian Market was casino at €439m (up 33% year-on-year); with sports betting the second best performer at €350m (up 31% y-on-y); and poker the only drop coming in third at €133m (down 10%).
The Italian Profile
The average online gambler in Italy is a male between the ages of 25-34, though percentage of female online gamblers did jump two points to 17% last year.
Betting
The number of Italians placing at least one bet online in 2016 was 1.79m, representing a 15% jump from 2015.
Mobile Contribution
Mobile gambling in 2016 grew to a contribution of almost 23% of 2016’s total activity, up from 2015’s 19.2%; sports betting was the most mobile-friendly vertical at 56% of total mobile wagering, far above the 29% of mobile usage for casino.
Look Out, UK
Future expansion is set to accelerate, with the 84 total Italian online licenses operating at the end of 2016 expected to expand with the issuance of a whopping 120 new online licenses within weeks.
