Italy’s sports betting market suffers rare decline in October

Italy’s sports betting market suffered a rare reversal in October, reporting declines in both online and land-based wagering revenue.

Official figures from Italy’s gambling regulator show overall sports betting revenue of €133.7m in the month of October, a nearly 26% decline from the same month last year. The decline was evident both online (€56.9m, -21.2%) and at the retail level (€76.8m, -29%).

The declines were apparently the result of punter-friendly results in Italian football, as the overall payout to players hit 87.2% (90.8% online). Still, year-to-date wagering revenue is over €1.2b, a significant gain on the €975m the nation’s betting operators had generated at this point last year.

Bet365 regained its traditional online betting crown, capturing 15.9% of October’s online wagering action. The SKS365 group’s Planetwin365 brand, which topped Bet365 in September, slipped back to second place with a 15.6% share. Snaitech ranked third with 10.1%.