Italy

The Italian Agency of Customs and Monopolies (ADM) has shut down approximately 7,000 online gambling websites deemed to be in breach of national gambling laws. The ADM figures were presented through an official economic & financial report presented by the Italian government as part of it September 2018 update. The report details that over 10 million attempts to engage with …

Issuing a market update, Borsa Milan gambling firm Gruppo Gamenet SPA has confirmed the closure of its outright acquisition of betting group GoldBet, completing its €275 million transaction. The deal first announced on 24 July 2018, sees Gamenet secure Italy’s biggest retail betting presence adding +900 new betting points to its existing network, which services +1,700 betting concessions. ‘The Acquisition …

As the Italian Lega-5Star coalition government moves to implement its ban on gambling advertising, forming part of its Dignity Decree, Stockholm-listed LeoVegas has submitted a formal complaint to the EU. Leading the complaint, Niklas Lindahl, Leo Vegas’ Managing Director for Italy, remains “convinced” the Decree will be overturned, because introducing it on 1 January 2019, as planned, would breach the …

Stockholm-listed online gambling group Betsson AB has selected Omnicom subsidiary agency Hearts & Science as its new European media and marketing lead. The London-based agency will act as Betsson’s group-wide marketing strategist covering European media buys, campaign planning and programmatic advertising. Hearts & Science will support Betsson marketing teams across the territories of Denmark, Italy, Norway and Spain. Betsson AB …

Italy’s Customs & Monopoly Agency (Agenzia delle Dogane – AGM) the government body overseeing gambling regulatory policy expects to issue its new online gambling licences by the end of the year. Updating the market, the AGM has disclosed that it has received 80 official operator applications. However, moving forward the AGM will initially reward 60 active operators with new online …

Italian betting technology group Newgioco Inc has undertaken an executive management restructure, targeting future expansion and growth within the liberalised US sports betting market. Updating investors, Newgioco welcomes four new faces to its executive management team, as the company restructures its financial and commercial divisions to take on future US market challenges. US finance and technology veteran Elizabeth J Maclean …

Italian gambling licensees have been seeking clarification on the Dignity Decree, which was signed in July, for the last few weeks. As we have reported over the last few months, the decree bans the use of sponsorship and advertising through all media for real money gaming from 1 January 2019. This week the Customs and Monopolies Agency was asked to …

Italy’s betting market continues to grow, despite facing a number of future obstacles combined with further regulatory uncertainties under the governance of the Lega-5Star coalition government. During August, Italian betting recorded total gross-gaming-revenues (GGR) of €111 million, representing a 34% increase on corresponding 2017 results. A breakdown of August GGR figures sees growth in retail betting to €61 million (+41%), …

Borsa Milan-listed gambling firm Gruppo Gamenet SPA has issued a ‘senior non-convertible bond’ valued at approximately €225 million, which will be put forward to private institutional investors. The non-convertible bond will have a maturity date set at 2023 and will be listed on Italian and European-wide bond exchange markets. Updating investors, Gamenet governance details that it will utilise the proceeds …

The new Serie A season kicked off on 18 August, with Italian football clubs securing a reported €125 million in lead shirt sponsorship revenues. According to data collected by Italian sports business news source SportEconomy’s ‘football shirt sponsor index’, Serie A football clubs continue to grow their lead partnerships, which have grown year-on-year since 2015, when combined Serie A sponsorships …