Bet365 launches regulated Italian site

Bet365 has finally launched its regulated Italy-facing site after months of speculation over the firm’s plans to enter the market.

The operator’s dot.it went live this morning and features a full range of sports betting markets, casino, live casino and poker products.

It is the latest dot.country launch from bet365 with the operator already holding licences in Spain, Denmark and Australia, having submitted an application in Bulgaria and seeking a sports betting licence in Germany.

Bet365 faces a challenging operating environment in Italy, with the sports betting market showing significant decline in recent years.

The firm will also have to deal with the unfavourable tax treatment of sports betting ““ subject to a turnover tax, rather than one on gross gaming revenue (GGR) ““ which will negatively impact its high-volume, low-margin business model.

A switch to a 20% tax of GGR has been mooted, however any change to that taxation method lies in the hands of the Finance Minister who has not made any official comment on the matter.

Bet365 will hope it can mirror its successful transition to a ring-fenced Spanish site, having quickly become market leader there when the market regulated in 2012.

However it has struggled to repeat that success in Australia where a revenue increase of 300% over failed to prevent a AU$40m loss (£22.5m) loss in its 2013 financial year.

The Stoke-based operator will come up against familiar competition in Italy in the shape of William Hill, Paddy Power and Betfair along with local operators Sisal, Snai and Lottomatica.

Earlier this month Italy’s largest daily newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport announced the launch of a sports betting site in partnership with Playtech