SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Italy’s Agency of Customs & Monopolies, the regulatory body for commercial industries’ has detailed that Italian consumers wagered approximately €466 million during World Cup Russia 2018.
The wagering figure represents a new Italian sector record for a sporting event, despite Italy having no Azzurri representation at the tournament.
The agency’s data goes against the pessimistic forecasts of a number of sector analysts, who believed that Italian betting incumbents would struggle to engage their audiences with World Cup markets.
In fact, Russia 2018 trading, nearly doubled the €270 million wagering volume set at Brazil 2014.
The significant upsurge in World Cup wagering was mostly due to the increased number of authorized betting shops since the implementation of 2015 and 2016 Stability Law on tax amnesties.
Furthermore, Italian consumers have benefitted from an expanded inventory with regards to authorized betting markets.
Detailing insights, the sum of money wagered on the Russia 2018 final between France and Croatia outpaced all other matches with €21 million market volume for the game that crowned “Les Bleus” world champions.
Over €16.5 million was wagered on the semi-final match between Croatia and England, with €13.9 million on the corresponding France vs Belgium SF game.
Italian betting stakeholders have faced a summer of disruption, following the approval of the new Lega-5Star blanket ban on gambling advertising and sponsorship across all verticals.
Nevertheless, the solid momentum sustained by World Cup trading will reinvigorate Italian bookmakers for the start new Serie A football season (19 August), featuring Cristiano Ronaldo the world’s most recognisable sports star playing for Juventus FC.
