Bwin's Gioco Digitale signs second Italy casino deal
Bwin-owned Gioco Digitale has signed a deal with Net Entertainment (NetEnt) for the delivery of NetEnt's CasinoModule to both Gioco and Bwin's Italian site, Bwin.It; the group's second Italian casino deal this month...
BWIN-owned Gioco Digitale has signed a deal with Net Entertainment (NetEnt) for the delivery of NetEnt’s CasinoModule to both Gioco and Bwin’s Italian site, Bwin.It; the group’s second Italian casino deal this month.
The tie signifies real intent for Bwin.It, through Gioco Digitale, the Italian poker operator that Bwin acquired in September 2009 to expand its casino offering to match that of its poker offering following the launch of Bwin’s Ongame Italian poker network with five million players earlier this month, of which both sites are partners.
It is the Austrian operator’s second casino tie-up in Italy since Bwin Italia signed 888 business-to-business arm Dragonfish to supply download and flash games including video poker and table games for casino last week, as well as a suite of back-end products, marking Dragonfish’s first foray into the Italian market.
Gioco Digitale general director Paolo di Feo said: “Casino games is an important focus area for our continued growth”.
Italy is Europe’s biggest online gambling market by revenue, and is one of the first countries in Europe to regulate the domestic market for online gaming through licensing.
Gioco’s CasinoModule launch will take place after requirement specifications have been published by the Italian authorities, expected during the first half of this year, and a NetEnt statement read that “there is an ambition to extend the partnership within the Bwin group moving forward”.
As discussed in yesterday’s EGR blog post, the Italian Gaming Authority issued the decree regulating online poker cash games and casino games earlier in March.
The Bwin deal is also the second major signing in Italy for NetEnt, which signed a licence deal with Microgame, Italy’s largest remote gaming service provider, for the delivery of CasinoModule in October 2009.
Net Entertainment chief executive Johan Ãhman said: “The [latest] agreement means that Net Entertainment becomes the prime supplier of online casino software in Italy”.
NetEnt also signed a deal to deliver CasinoModule to Bertil, a company part-owned by Bonnier Gaming, earlier this month.
EGR has published the categories for the eGaming Review B2B Awards, the new honours to recognise achievement among the online gambling industry’s service providers and B2B operators. Deadline for entries is Friday 23 April 2010.
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