Bet365 has yet again proven to be resilient in the turbulent global gambling industry by opening an Italian-focused website, despite its recent issues with attaining a gambling license in Germany. Its Italian regulated website is named bet465.it and is designed to suit the linguistic needs of Italian sports betting and gambling target groups.
As its other global and local websites, bet365.it will contain all the features, products and services that the operator has to offer, including online games, poker and sports betting platforms. The website is available on smartphones and personal computers.
Other similar websites, set up under the special demands and conditions of the local authorities of the countries they operate in, are those in Spain, Denmark and Australia. Each of them acquired a gambling license from the local government. The next country on the list for localized website is Bulgaria as well as Germany, which is currently undergoing some licensing issues.
Unfavorable Gambling Legislation in Italy
There have been many speculations over the past months concerning bet365’s plans to enter the Italian market with special target-segmented approach.
Experts, however, have some doubts about the decision of bet365 to focus specifically on Italy, due to the high gambling taxes and the overall situation for gambling operators, reporting an overall decline in the betting sectors. Various sources report that the Italian gambling market has been on a steady decline for the past few years.
All local and international operators, that launched websites or other gambling activities, have been struggling to keep positive financial standings.
Another major issue that differentiates the Italian gambling market from other European markets is that its taxes and productivity are calculated on turnover rather than the overall gaming earnings. The businesses in the sector have long been demanding that the government changes its policy, explaining that in this way the industry will bring more revenue by providing better services, products and facilities and will also meet the competition from the neighboring countries.
It is said that Bet365 is trying to mimic the current success of its Spanish-based website. Bet365 believes it will be able to reach the same results as in Spain, due to the fact that Italy and Spain have similar, ‘harsh’ legislative conditions. Yet, Spain gave positive revenue results.
There is a number of strong competitors in Italy, some of which are Betfair and William Hill, as well as local ones: Italian Gambling Group – Sisal, an under-construction website funded by Playtech and the locally renowned company Lottomatica.
Steady Growth
Despite the negative reports from the other competitors in Italy, bet365 shows that it is steadily growing, supported by its strong strategic decisions and management innovation. It is yet to be seen how bet365 plans to win over customers from the tight competition in the country.
