Top 5 Takeaways on the Italian Gambling Market from the SiGMA Summit

I attended the SiGMA Summit in Malta last week and summarized in this article my top five takeaways on the Italian gambling market.

The main event in the gambling market last week was the SiGMA Europe Summit in Malta, which gathered most of the operators and suppliers of the gaming industry from all over the world.

I had the pleasure of running a few sessions on the Italian gambling market with Trevor De Giorgio and Stefano Sbordoni, and here are my top 5 takeaways:

1. Italy is the second-largest gambling market in Europe and remains extremely attractive to operators and suppliers. This was confirmed by the interest at the conference and the reported figures on turnover generated by operators. Even if the cost of licenses might increase, that is likely to be offset by the substantial revenues that could be generated.
2. There has been a concentration in the market, but there is still room for new entrants. Despite the gambling advertising ban being seen as a barrier for new entrants, it opened new channels of communication for operators to exploit and reach customers. If operators can differentiate their offering, they might gain considerable profits.
3. The new tender rules might lead operators to establish partnerships. The new tender rules might provide for the award of a maximum number of 40 licenses with a minimum bidding price of €6 million. This circumstance might help larger operators, while smaller/medium-sized operators might enter into partnerships to cover the cost of the license. Such a dynamic might be beneficial in improving the quality of a market where there are still several minor operators.
4. Media companies might still consider the Italian gambling market attractive. Despite some failed attempts in recent years, the entertainment elements of gambling are becoming exponentially prominent, making this market a natural option for media companies able to integrate the gambling offering into their media content.
5. The reform of the Italian gambling legislation is likely to bring more certainty. Italy is facing its largest reform of gambling rules in the coming months, while a patchwork of regulations is currently in place. These new regulations are likely to be appreciated especially by foreign operators that often struggle to have a full understanding of regulatory implications.

This is just a snippet of the discussed topic, but a general message of confidence in the Italian gambling market arose from the discussions. If you want to know more about the upcoming tender for new Italian remote gambling licenses, you can read the following article: “The Future of Remote Gambling in Italy: Opportunities or Threats for Operators?“.