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ItalyIn 2004 the Italian government started the process of liberalising the gambling market by introducing regulation and a licensing process. The granting of a “telematico” licence required all customers to be registered with the regulatory authority AAMS (Administrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato) with all bets requiring approval prior to acceptance. Licence 1090 covers horse racing, licence 3761 covers sports betting.
In August 2006 AAMS expanded the scope of the Italian betting market by launching a tendering process for the acquisition of a range of betting licences. Included were retail licences, referred to as “corner” licences, allowing shops to take and pay cash over the counter whether or not the customer is registered.
At this time government sources estimated that the value of the Italian betting market was €39billion of which sport and horse racing betting accounted for 14%. The total market has since been expected to grow to €61 billion by 2010, the retail betting market to €14billion. (Media & Entertainment Consulting Network – The Italian Gambling Market: A forerunner in the Liberalisation of European Gambling Markets – March 2007)
In June 2008 “online” licences were issued entitling holders to take bets online, either directly or from customers through shops offering online facilities. Licence 4006 covers online betting and skill games.
All operators are required to connect their transactions through SOGEI (Societa Generale d’Informatica SPA) which validates the transaction with a view to calculating the betting duty due to the Italian treasury. This duty equates to approximately 5.5% of the bet staked. Operators must lodge guarantees with AAMS to cover betting duties and customer monies. Betshop Italia currently has €1.5million lodged as security for the guarantees.
The Italian betting market is dominated by three operators: SNAI, Lottomatica and Intralot. Betshop Italia ranks fourth in terms of outlets, heading the second tier of operators.
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