Tombola eyes bingo breakthrough in Italy thanks to new legislation
Operators can offer bingo on their own platform for the first time following changes to regulation
Italian online bingo operators have hailed new regulations that allow firms to offer greater differentiation and innovation in their bingo products.
Existing bingo legislation meant operators could only offer a 90-ball game and limited prizes, while the platform itself was provided by state regulator AAMS.
Operators were limited to running a skin of the AAMS bingo server, but changes to the regulations mean firms will be allowed to run bingo on their own platforms from November 2018.
No major restrictions will be imposed on the mechanics of the game but prizes cannot resemble lottery or other numbers games that are subject to their own exclusive licenses.
“There is a lot of excitement in the market from everyone, not only us but our competitors also because we have the chance to bring bingo back and offer some new products,” said Tombola marketing manager Carmine Giordano.
Tombola is the market leader for bingo in Italy, ahead of Gioco Digitale, Lottomatica and Sisal.
“At the moment the market is dominated by casino and sports betting and this will give operators a chance to look at bingo and invest in all the main channels,” Giordano added.
“We have been looking for bingo variants for some time but there has been a delay for several years.
“Now they are finally in place, we hope this will move bingo from a minor product into a much bigger one,” he added.
Giordano said the new regulations could help bingo to become as popular in Italy as it is in the UK and America.
He added: “In the UK, bingo is a much bigger product, so this is an opportunity for everyone in the Italian market to really invest in this product.
“There is a lot of tradition with bingo in Italy and we have a very famous game called tombola as well, so if everyone in the market is able to offer the different versions of bingo, such as the American version, it would be more creative and this will let bingo grow again.”
Operators will have until January 2019 to get their bingo platforms certified by the Italian gambling authority.