In 2020, the online Italian casinos market saw a strong growth due to the lockdown. As of October 2020, a total of €103.6 million has been spent in this market, an increase of 57.5% from the previous year (€65.7 million in 2019).
But how are these revenues distributed among the best online Italian casinos?
The market data updated to 2020 on Italian casinos saw the leader with 11.46%, taking the biggest slice. It was followed by a 9.06%, the third position with 7.93%, fourth with 6.33%, William Hill with 2.64%, and finally the fifth casino with a share of 1.78%.
The online game was regulated in Italy in 2006 with the legislative decree 223/2006. The regulatory system has been appealed several times by operators from other states, but all legal proceedings have confirmed the full validity and applicability of the Italian licensing regime for online gambling.
Any operator licensed anywhere in the EEA, with a minimum gambling turnover of EUR 1.5 million in the last two years and meeting the standard requirements, is in principle eligible to apply for an ADM concession. In general, Italian law gives legal entities the right to apply for a concession for the management of gambling activities, while individuals are not granted the same possibility.
The only way to make such an application is to participate in the public procedures that are announced by the Regulatory Authority. The number of concessions that can be granted for online casinos in Italy is decided by the Government, while the duration of the concessions is established from time to time in the contract concluded between the State and the concession holder.
Currently, the key requirements for Italian casinos are the following:
1. The operator must alternatively have a gambling license issued by any European State (for at least one of the games authorized in Italy) or an adequate technical capacity, i.e. sufficient infrastructure to offer at least one of the games authorized in Italy, and a bank or insurance guarantee of €1,500,000.
2. Minimum share capital of €1,500,000, proven by financial statements for the last two years of activity related to the gambling sector.
3. It is not expressly required that the servers be located in Italy, but they must be located within the territory of a European State.
“Decreto Dignità” and how it affects companies’ promotion
The Decree-Law No. 87 of 2018, also known as the “Decreto Dignità”, introduced an absolute ban on the advertising of games and bets including sponsorships and forms of indirect advertising. In particular, Article 9 concerns the prohibition of any form of advertising, including indirect advertising, relating to games or bets with money winnings, regardless of the medium used, including sports, cultural or artistic events.
Excluded from the prohibition are national lotteries with deferred draws, lotteries and tombolas organised at local level for charity and must include the logos of the Customs and Monopolies Agency. Violations of the regulations are subject to a sanction of 20% of the value of the sponsorship or advertising, with a minimum amount of €50,000 per violation.
The Authority for Communications Guarantees (AGCOM) is the body responsible for imposing sanctions, which go into the Fund for countering pathological gambling. Until 2018, gambling advertising was allowed within certain limits. In particular, the 2016 Stability Law (Legge di Stabilità) had introduced a series of prohibitions with reference to gambling advertising, implementing the principles contained in Recommendation no. 478/2014 of the European Commission.
It was forbidden to advertise excessive gambling, to deny the risks associated with gambling, to advertise gambling as a means of solving financial problems, target or refer to minors, to make unfounded statements about the chances of winning.
It was also prohibited to advertise games with cash winnings on national and local radio and television broadcasts from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, except specialized media, identified by decree of the Minister for the Economy in agreement with the Minister for Economic Development, and national lotteries.
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