Is The Increase In Italian Online Casino Use A Sign?
Added: Feb. 2, 2015
A sign of good things to come for online casino operators? Perhaps so. Let’s take a look at what is going on here so you can decide for yourself. As you may or may not know the state of online gambling in Italy has been something of an enigma as of late. Recall that as far back as 2007, Italy completely upended the world of online poker.
At the time, Italian authorities made it clear to everyone involved that Italian players must be clearly separated from international online poker players. Some have even referred to this move in derogatory terms, saying its something like an attempt to put a ring around Italian online poker players.
As you might well expect the consequences have been disastrous for online poker sites. So much so that the numbers reported comparing 2014 results against 2013 results point to a startling 24 percent decline. If you widen the time period all the way back to 2012, the results are even worse. Compared to 2012 numbers, the 2014 results were a stark 43% less.
But all that being said, that is not the whole story. As hinted at in the headline above, there is another side to this tale that is actually turning heads all over the world. As you might have already guessed, this is all about the reported results from the online casino industry.
Even better, at least from the perspective of online casino proponents everywhere the good news from the online casino industry is actually coming from legal regulated online casinos. Yes, make sure you take the time to read that line again. The results from Italy could be a game changer around the world.
Here it is one more time just to make sure the point is not missed. The legal (read authorized, regulated and assessed with various fees and taxes) online casinos in Italy have been on a tear. In other words, things are going really well for these online casinos. In fact, according to the esteemed publication, eGaming Review, the online casino sector closed out the year with a remarkably high 24% increase in Gross Gaming Revenues (GRR).
A spokesperson from DLA Piper explained that most likely a good bit of the increased revenue is due to Italian players being obliged to switch to licensed Italian online casinos. In other words, by setting up the legislation for online casinos the correct way, the Italian online casino player will find themselves having to switch to the newly authorized online casino sites.
As mentioned above, online casino operators and governments around the world are following this story closely. It could work out that Italy has proven to the world that legal online casinos can work.