Italy online casino market up 8% in September
GGR for regulated market up for sixth consecutive month as suppliers continue to halt supply to black market
Italy’s regulated online casino market recorded its sixth consecutive month of year-on-year growth after the country’s licensed operators posted an aggregated gross gaming revenues (GGR) rise of 8% in September.
According to figures seen by eGaming Review, GGR for the market reached 21m for the month, up on the 19.5m posted during September 2013, and continued a run of sustained growth which first commenced over the summer.
The upturn in fortunes comes after Italian regulator AAMS earlier this year struck agreements with a number of software suppliers, such as Playtech, Microgaming, NetEnt and Amaya Gaming, to halt their supply of games to the unlicensed market by the end of the year.
Playtech terminated its supply of software to the unlicensed market on 30 June and its withdrawal had an immediate impact on July’s numbers where the regulated market grew by 20%.
According to DLA Piper gaming lawyer Giulio Coraggio, the unavailability of some games in the black market, as well as the arrival of some major new players into the market, has encouraged customers to migrate to licensed platforms.
“I believe the growth of the market is due to the reduced offering to Italian players from dot.com websites since the best casino games are now available for Italian players only on Italian licensed platforms,” Coraggio said.
Since the launch of slots in late 2012, the country’s regulated casino market had begun to stagnate in 2013 with the 2013 eGR Online Gaming Survey Italy estimating 43% of the market was in the hands of unlicensed operators.
However, the market is now roughly 7% ahead in terms of GGR compared to the same stage last year having only been 0.2% ahead at the end of April and is on course to exceed the 235m registered in 2013.
eGR recently revealed that Italy’s regulated sports betting vertical was also on the rise having posted a 7% increase in stakes for September while poker tournament turnover grew by 16% across the month.