Online and retail sports betting revenues wane in Italy

Italy’s normally buoyant sports betting market delivered an unusual decline in both online and land-based wagering revenues in October, according to official figures from the regulator.

Overall sports betting revenue declined 26 percent y-o-y to Euro 133.7 million, with online down 21.2 percent at Euro 56.9 million and retail down 29 percent at Euro 76.8 million. The declines have been attributed to player-friendly results in football with players winning significantly.

YTD numbers draw a more positive picture – up Euro 1.2 billion from the Euro 972 million in the corresponding period of 2017.

In October Bet365 claimed the top market share for online sports bets at 15.9 percent, chased by SKS365 group’s Planetwin365 on 15.6 percent and Snaitech on 10.1 percent.

Intralot-Gamenet-Goldbet claimed the biggest retail sports betting market share at 21.4 percent, trailed by SKS365 on 12 percent and GVC-Eurobet on 11.9 percent.

The online casino sector recorded another positive month with revenues up 24.4 percent at Euro 64.9 million, although poker again disappointed with declines in cash games (down 11.8 percent at Euro 5.3 million) and tournaments (down 4.6 percent at Euro 6.7 million).

Retail and online virtual betting revenue in October reached Euro 24.5 million, pushing the YTD improvement up by 18.7 percent to Euro 217 million. Online lagged in the vertical, delivering Euro 16.7 million in October.

Goldbet claimed top market share in the virtual betting vertical at 29 percent, very comfortably ahead of closest rival Snaitech at 17.5 percent.

On a YTD basis, government has benefitted by Euro 10.7 billion in gambling tax receipts – a y-o-y rise of 4 percent.