According to data provided by Ficom Leisure to InnovateChange online revenue in the finance sector showed a 4.6% increase from January to reach €351.2m. This figure is just slightly behind the record set in December 2020. In comparison to February 2020, when Italy went into lockdown, revenue has increased by a significant 94.8%. The growth in revenue is mainly attributed to the substantial increase in sports betting revenue, which reached an all-time high of €185.5m. Sports betting accounted for more than half of Italy’s total online revenue. The closure of retail betting shops across the country played a significant role in this growth. Online betting revenue also increased by 29.4% from January, which did not have any retail betting activity. The six largest operators in the online betting market, Bet365, PlanetWin365, Snai, Eurobet, Goldbet, and Sisal, each held over 10% of the market share. However, their rankings within this group changed, with Goldbet reclaiming the market leader position in December. Sisal and Snai followed, while Bet365 dropped to sixth place. Despite the absence of revenue from the retail sector, overall sports betting revenue matched that of February 2020, making it the second-best month since the first lockdown began, only surpassed by October 2020.
On the other hand, online casino revenue experienced a decline of 12.3% month-on-month but demonstrated an impressive 83.1% year-on-year growth, reaching €143.0m. While this is the third-best month for online casino in Italy, it had the lowest share of revenue since December 2017 at 40.7%. PokerStars continues to lead as the top operator, although its market share decreased to 10.4%. Sisal closed the gap and achieved a market share of 9.5%. Snai, 888, and Lottomatica followed, each with over 7.5% of revenue. Poker revenue decreased compared to the previous three months but remained significantly higher than February 2020. Tournaments generated €9.8m, experiencing a 43.4% year-on-year increase, while cash games contributed €6.7m, representing a 33.5% increase. PokerStars maintained its dominant position but saw its market share of tournament revenue fall below 50% for the first time since InnovateChange began publishing data in 2017. Sisal, Snai, Eurobet, and E-Play 24/7 witnessed an increase in their market shares. In cash games, PokerStars increased its market share to 44.4% from January, followed by Lottomatica with 6.8% and E-Play 24/7 with 6.3%.
All data and figures provided by the regulator are processed by Ficom Leisure, a leading European corporate advisory firm specializing in the betting and gaming sector. In addition to the information about Italy’s online market, Ficom Leisure also provides monthly and quarterly figures for other regions and countries, such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Spain, and Portugal.
