Italian operators of any form of online gambling should mark 19th March 2018 bold in their calendars as this is the official deadline to apply for one of the 120 online casino licenses that are issued by the Italian government. However, the application doesn’t come cheap since the State of Italy is asking for a fee of 200.000 Euro, which will count towards the registration fee should the application be successful.
The sale was made public in an official memo published by the European Union. Italy has announced several major changes to regulate online gambling and sports betting in the country South of the Alps. Analysts are expecting operators of existing gambling providers to acquire about ⅓ of all issued licenses to renew their gaming certification. The remaining 80 permits are said to be popular among new operators that are planning to enter the Italian market, such as Vegas Hero or Play Frank, and many other new mobile casinos.
Italy one of the most important markets for online gambling
Different forms of online gaming have been super popular in many regions across the whole country. In fact, Italy is among the top three states in Europe when it comes to online casinos, and sports betting, only beaten by Ireland and Finland, and claims position five worldwide. The EU industry’s revenue was estimated at 500 Million Euro in 2016 and in Italy alone; young gamblers account for 29% of all bets placed in a betting shop, 13% of online bets, and 11.5% of online casino spendings.
No surprise then that gaming companies are fighting hard for the 120 licenses that are being issued this year to claim their piece of the pie. However, not just the operators but also the Italian government that is going to get a nice cheque. If all licenses are being claimed, and no evidence suggests otherwise, the State of Italy is expecting income of 24 Million Euro not including future taxes.
Overview: Gambling in the European Union
The EU gambling market is estimated at around 90 billion EUR with a yearly growth rate of 3%. Online gambling is particularly popular with nearly 10 million consumers playing a variety of different offerings. Annual revenues from online are expected to hit approximately 20 billion EUR accounting for almost 20% of the market share.
