Ladbrokes Sees Growth in Italy While Online Gambling Sees HopeItaly is suddenly one of the most progressive countries after taking a stance similar to that of the United States when it came to online gambling legality. This year, Italy did a complete about-face and Ladbrokes is looking to capitalize.
Italy, in many ways, is the new frontier of online gambling.
A Brief History
Italy had tried to ban all IP addresses related to online gambling as recently as last year. At the start of this year, the country moved towards a more legalized environment similar to that of the United Kingdom.
It is no longer be illegal for Italian citizens to gamble online in "ability based and fixed betting activities".
Italian law guarantees the government 3% of all the gambling revenues that the companies acquire through business with Italian citizens.
This new approach by Italy has raised many questions on whether other countries will soon follow Italy and the UK by regulating the online gambling industry, including the United States, which effectively banned some forms of online gambling last year.
Ladbrokes Move Into Italy Shows Promise
Britain's leading online bookmaker, Ladbrokes, said on Wednesday it had started taking online bets from Italian punters, the latest step in its expansion into the country.
The head of the firm's Italian business Mattia Nicelli told Reuters 700 to 800 people were now betting on the site.
Italy is slowly opening up its gambling market and although the government still decides which kinds of bets are allowed, fixed-odds betting on things like soccer matches and horse racing have now been introduced.
Around 95 percent of bets in Italy are on soccer matches.
Ladbrokes has 100 million euros ($147.3 million) to spend on expansion into the country and plans to have 62 shops offering both sports and horse racing betting, plus another 51 betting kiosks in places like bars and cafes, in time for next summer's Euro 2008 finals.
Ladbrokes has said it will make 20 to 40 million pounds from its new Italian and Spanish businesses.
"We will make money in Italy," said Nicelli. "I'm not allowed to lose money," he added, refusing to give a forecast.
Ladbrokes rivals, William Hill and Coral, are also about to enter the Italian market.
Based in Rayners Lane in Harrow, London, Ladbrokes also operates land-based bookmaking establishments scattered throughout England. It is relegated from the elite FTSE 100 Index in June 2006. The company first floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1967, when it had an initial market capitalization of just under £1 million. Until 23 February 2006, Ladbrokes owned a major hotel business, including the Hilton hotel brand outside the United States. From 14 May 1999 to 23 February 2006 it was known as Hilton Group plc.
Filed Under: Ladbrokes Online Gambling
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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com
Originally published November 29, 2007 9:32 am EST
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