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The Italian Gaming Authority, AAMS, published the data for March and April 2012 on the Italian online gaming market showing an increase in players’ spending of 8.6% compared to 2011.
The turnover of the Italian online gaming market reached in the first 4 months of 2012 € 5.5 billion with players’ spending of € 67.7 million. As occurred during the last year, poker cash games (€ 3.1 billion of turnover) and casino games (€ 1.4 billion of turnover) represent by far the major products, while the turnover of traditional online gaming products is facing a contraction.
This circumstance may be mainly due to the focusing of major operators and players themselves on the new products (i.e. cash poker and casino games). However, the future of the market might change in the near future. The launch of sportsbetting games not included in the official AAMS schedule, bets on virtual events and betting exchange games might render the .IT offering more interesting.
But the most awaited change relates to the introduction of online slots that are currently prohibited. AAMS has now adopted a more flexible approach authorizing games similar to slots as far as they do not reproduce “spins”, but it is still unclear when the green light for the “real” slots will be given. Also, an additional interesting change will relate to the adoption of more flexible bingo regulations allowing licensees to offer the same types of games currently available on .COM platforms while the current regulations are very restrictive as based on land-based regulations.
I have heard from commentators that there is nothing new in the Italian market, but the above shows lots of projects in the pipeline. Stay tuned and, as usual, send an email to me, Giulio Coraggio, if you want to discuss.
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