Sports betting improves in Italy
The industry recovered from a January drop and saw punters betting over €1 billion during last month.
Italy.- Sports betting figures worried the Italian authorities during January. But February results were far better. According to the Agenzia della Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM), punters wagered over €1 billion last month and pushed a recovery and a revenue increase.
The ADM explained operators collected revenue of €160 million, 29% better both year-on-year and from the previous month. Furthermore, retail sports betting operators claimed the lion’s share at €90 million (24.4% up) of betting revenue, as the online segment managed to claim a 35.8% better figure at €69.1 million.
In addition to the sports betting market, online casinos posted a solid month. They reported €61.4 million in revenue, 12% up year-on-year but down from January’s €72 million. Online poker wasn’t so lucky as total revenue reached only the €12.2 million mark, while tournament revenue dropped 4.3% to €7.2 million.
Sports betting revenue had totalled €124.6 million in January. It represented a 17.2% decline when compared to the same period in 2018. Despite these results, online casinos set a record.
The year-on-year decline represented approximately €26 million less than January 2018. During that month the regulator registered €150.5 million in sports betting revenue. ADM estimated that the decline comes from the winter break in Italy’s Serie A football league.
