Flutter bets on Italian bingo with Tombola launch on Sisal
Flutter’s Sisal will launch Tombola games and a market-first ‘Super Bingo’ product.
Italy.- The Irish gambling giant Flutter Entertainment is making further strides in its bid for market dominance in Italy following its recent acquisition of Snaitech. It’s marrying up two of its brands Sisal and Tombola in a bid to become a major player in bingo in Italy.
Flutter bought both the Italian online gambling and lottery operator Sisal, and the UK bingo operator Tombola in 2022. Now it plans to launch Tombola products for Italian customers under Sisal branding, as well as a new product named Super Bingo, which it will be a first-of-its-kind bingo game for Italy. It also plans to add Tombola’s online casino content later in the year.
The New York-listed company described the move as its “first-ever platform partnership”. It said the linkup would bringing Tombola’s “innovative product and deep liquidity pool” to Sisal, in the latest example of what it calls the Flutter Edge – the Group’s competitive advantages across product, technology, expertise and scale.
“Sisal’s bingo customers now get to enjoy tombola’s proprietary bingo product as an integrated feature on their app and website. Games will continue to be Sisal-branded to maintain consistency but will be powered by tombola’s product offering and expertise,” it said. “Meanwhile, Italian tombola players will see the introduction of Super Bingo, a new playing experience involving a game of 75-ball bingo that will generate significant full house prizes well beyond what has been available in the market up to now.
Importantly, the integration and these new products allow both sets of customers to avail of a much deeper liquidity pool, giving them opportunities to play for larger prizes and bigger guaranteed jackpots, it added.
Rosangela Robbiani, chief product officer at Flutter Southern Europe and Africa (SEA), which includes Sisal, said: “We’re thrilled to see this combination happening, as Italy proves once again to be a fertile ground for collaboration across Flutter’s brands, particularly within Southern Europe and Africa. Leveraging the advantages of the Flutter Edge, we’re unlocking new ways to enhance the customer experience.
“Sisal has a long-standing track record in pioneering product innovation: this initiative is a clear example of how cross-brand collaboration within Flutter can accelerate innovation and deliver meaningful value for our players.”
Flutter paid £402m for Tombola and €1.91bn for Sisal, which runs Italy’s SuperEnalotto as well as online sports betting and gaming and lotteries in Morocco and Turkey. More recently, Flutter estimates that its €2.3bn deal to buy Snailtech from the British gambling tech supplier Playtech makes it the biggest online gambling operator in Italy by market share.
The Italian online gambling market is going through a process of consolidation as the regulator, the ADM, recently confirmed approval for 46 new Italian online gambling licences, down from 81 when the last round of licences was issued in 2018.
