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The Italian online casino market is registering a continous growth despite of the regulatory limitations and the uncertainty on the future.
The growth of the Italian online casino market in March 2019
According to the press, the players’ spending in March 2019 on Italian online casino games was of € 72.6 million with a growth of 19.8% compared to the previous year. And the figures of the first 3 months of the year are also positive since the spending was of € 206 million with a 17.6% increase on the data of 2018.
An interesting data relates to the fact that there is only one operator with more than 10% of market share which shows that all the other operators are in very close positions and there is still room for potential growth since there are not few operators dominating the market.
Also there are 21 operators with more than 1% of market share with no major gaps between them.
What does it mean for new entrants in the Italian gambling market?
The above is happening during a period in which some new entrants in the market are in the process of being awareded with a new Italian online gambling license (Read on the topic “New Italian online gambling licenses awarded and now?“) and major concerns are around their opportunities in a highly competitive market.
The concerns are also linked to the scope of the Italian gambling advertising ban whose actual scope shall be determined by guidelines of the Italian Communications Authority (Read on the topic “Italian gambling advertising ban and its potential exceptions“). Following a long consultation with the industry, the Authority obtained a clear picture of the situation and also understood that a total ban on gambling advertising would be in breach of the Italian Constitution and of EU principles.
Should the guidelines on the gambling advertising ban leave room for sufficient marketing initiatives, new entants in the market would definitely have major opportunities in a market whose figures show a good shape. However, it is likely that operators shall become more “creative” on how to attract players and differentiate their offering. But the result is expected to pay off.
Photo Credit Ted Murphy
