Casino drives 9% growth of Italian market
H1 revenues from regulated market near 400m with casino and sportsbook leading the way
Italy’s regulated market grew by 9% during the first six months of 2015 with casino and sportsbook more than making up for a declining poker vertical.
According to figures seen by eGaming Review, gross gaming revenues (GGR) for the period climbed from 363m in H1 2014 to 398m, with much of the growth attributable to a strong casino performance where GGR rose 24% to 153m.
Sportsbook also enjoyed double-digit growth as GGR increased by 18% year-on-year to 126m, while sportsbook turnover, which is widely regarded as a more accurate gauge of market activity, grew by 90% to approximately 1.3bn, primarily due to the addition of new market entrants such as bet365.
Both casino and sportsbook received a June boost with GGR rising 22% and 20% to 25m and 17m respectively.
But while casino and sportsbook prospered, the recent decline in poker, once the bedrock of Italy’s egaming market, continued apace as GGR fell 15% to 82m.
However, June did provide a crumb of comfort as poker tournament revenues grew by 13% to 5.7m, albeit not enough to arrest an overall monthly decline after cash games dropped 22% to 6.1m.
Italy’s egaming market is currently going through a transition phase with the regulator recently introducing measures to curb the country’s unlicensed operators and handing sportsbook operators more scope to offer a wider selection of betting opportunities.
In addition, the country’s parliament is due to discuss proposed changes to its taxation regime, which could see a number of products, including sportsbook, switch from a turnover-based levy to a tax based on revenues.