Sisal celebrates 80 years of Italian football betting
It’s been 80 years since the launch of Schedina, later known as Totocalcio.
Italy.- The Flutter-owned Italian gambling brand Sisal is commemorating the 80th anniversary of the launch of Schedina, later known as Totocalcio, a football prediction contest that has left a lasting mark on Italian sport and culture. Launched in 1946 by Milanese journalists Massimo Della Pergola, Fabio Jegher, and Geo Molo, the betting pool product emerged in post-war Italy and quickly gained wide national engagement while helping to fund the revival of Italian sport during the period of reconstruction.
To celebrate this milestone, Sisal is hosting a restoration project at the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense in Milan. Memorie di Carta. Sport Italia and 80 Years of Sisal and Totocalcio focuses on restoring the first six editions of Sport Italia, the magazine that accompanied the debut of the Schedina and chronicled Italian sporting life up until the early 2000s.
The restoration project, carried out in collaboration with the Botticino Restoration School and leading cultural institutions, aims to underscore the historical role of Totocalcio in shaping modern Italian sports culture. Representatives from the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the Central Institute for Restoration, and other conservation bodies joined a launch event to highlight the importance of preserving this heritage.
Marco Tiso, Managing Director of Sisal Italy, stressed the company’s commitment to innovation and responsibility and billed the restoration project as a way to “connect memory with the future, preserving a cultural legacy that belongs to all Italians.”
The company later launched other landmark products such as Totip and SuperEnalotto. Sisal was bought by Flutter, the operator of Paddy Power, Sky Bet, PokerStars and FanDuel, in August 2022 when the Italian operator was taking part in the licence tender for the British National Lottery.
Sisal ultimately lost out to Allwyn in that competition, but Flutter has continued to build its presence in Italy, including through the launch of Tombola on Sisal last July with Super Bingo. Flutter also now owns Snaitech, another major Italian gambling brand.
