Italian Gambling Market Prospering

ITALIAN ONLINE GAMBLING MARKET CONTINUES TO PROSPER
 
Euro 512 million in wagers placed in August on sports events.
 
Latest numbers from the Italian regulator indicate continued prosperity in Italian online and land gambling, with sports betting turnover in both land and online sectors totalling Euro 512 million in August, made up of online Euro 309.7 million and land Euro 202.3 million.
 
The August numbers boost turnover for the year to date by 17 percent, with online showing the better improvement at 32.4 percent.
 
Once again Bet365 claimed the biggest share of the sports betting market at 39.7 percent, well ahead of closest rival Eurobet (8.7 percent). Other competitors in the space include Sisal (Euro 20.1 million); Snai (Euro 19.7 million); Paddy Power Betfair (Euro 17.6 million and William Hill (Euro 17 million).
 
On the online casino gaming front, August revenues were up 35 percent year-on-year at Euro 34.3 million, with Lottomatica claiming the biggest slice of the pie at 11.8 percent, pursued by Sisal on 8.5 percent and Pokerstars on 7.3 percent.  William Hill trailed at just 6.3 percent, behind Eurobet.
 
Predictably, Pokerstars led the Italian poker market again with 50.9 percent of the cash game market and 74.2 percent of the tournament sector. Cash game returns in August were down 10.3 percent at Euro 5.3 million, as were tournament returns which declined 3.7 percent to Euro 4.9 million.
 
The betting exchange vertical again showcased Betfairs total dominance, with the pioneer of the genre reportedly holding a 95 percent share of the rapidly growing sector, which has soared 65.5 percent year-to-date, albeit from a small base.
 
Total year-to-date Italian gambling market revenues were up 19.3 percent to Euro 8.2 billion at the end of August.