Online gambling more popular than movies and football in Italy

After video games, online gambling is the favourite entertainment of Italians, according to a report in the publication West this week, which quotes from a new study conducted by the Observatory of Online Gaming at Milan Polytechnic.

In 2012, Italian punters bet as much as Euro 749 million online – Euro 14.5 million more than the previous year, and Euro 100 million more than cinema revenues; three times more than football stadiums and more than double spent in theatres.

The survey concluded that growth is mainly due to the spread of new internet devices that allow gamblers to connect anywhere, such as smartphones and tablets now available to about 20 million people, and with the increase in the number of games on offer, especially after the introduction at the end of last year of online slots.

Researcher noted that the dominant demographic in Italian online gambling is male, from central/south Italy, aged between 25 and 44 years, and a casino games player.

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