Italy had, until recently,
resisted the notion of allowing foreign companies to offer Internet betting and
gaming products to its citizens. The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance
had gone so far as to order the country's Internet Service Providers to block
access to the websites of foreign betting operators in February.
But when foreign
betting operators complained Italy's
policies violated European Union free trade laws, Italy became one of Nine Member
States against whom the European Commission launched infringement proceedings.
Taking over in
April, new prime minister Romano Prodi's
government is ushering in far-reaching economic measures, including an early
mini-budget intended to cut the country's deficit by more than 11.2 billion
Euros. The gambling and betting industries are among the most substantially
affected.
Hopefully,
Italy
will require SUBSTANTIAL Taxes and Fees on these Gambling Licenses for a
needled added revenue, and a Morals Tax if you please, as in Liquor, Smoking,etc.
Gaming regulators
in Italy and Spain have
passed legislation to liberalize land-based and Internet betting, prompting a
deluge of license applications from foreign operators.
In Italy, the
government is auctioning off 17,000 licenses for sports and horse racing
betting at shops and other outlets. Companies have been invited to bid for the
number of outlets for which they want licenses. Sports wagering will also be
permitted online.
Remote casino
gaming and brick-and-mortar casinos are also being regulated by Italy. More
than 30 companies-- many of them bookmakers, including Betfair,
William Hill and Unibet- have already received
licenses to offer remote gaming. Remote wagering on skill games and
person-to-person betting exchanges is also being regulated.
The Spanish
federal government has enacted legislation allowing sports betting in shops,
retail outlets and online, and regional governments
were given the ability to impose conditions as they see fit. Madrid's regional government published
regulations outlining its licensing conditions last month. Unlike Italy, Madrid
has established a fixed license fee and a limited number of licenses. But
license holders can open as many shops and outlets as they please.
Britain's largest betting
operators appear well-placed to take advantage of the opening markets. Gala
Coral already operates an Italian-language Internet site and a betting shop in Genoa. Ladbrokes entered
into a joint venture agreement with Italian firm Pianeta
Scommesse in August and bought three betting shops in
Turin last
month. And William Hill is finalizing a joint venture with Spanish firm Codere after the European Commission announced last week
that it would not oppose such a partnership.
"Essentially,
this is a case of creating a new market or converting an illegal market into a
legal market," said Nilay Patel, corporate
finance manager for William Hill. "We don't have the facts, figures and
information on which to make sensible estimates of the potential size of the
opportunity.
"Until we
actually have a couple years of operating experience in these markets, we
really don't know how they're going to develop," he continued.
Italy had, until recently,
resisted the notion of allowing foreign companies to offer Internet betting and
gaming products to its citizens. The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance
had gone so far as to order the country's Internet Service Providers to block
access to the websites of foreign betting operators in February. But when
foreign betting operators complained Italy's policies violated European
Union free trade laws, the country became one of nine Member States against
whom the European Commission launched infringement proceedings.
Taking over in
April, new prime minister Romano Prodi's
government is ushering in far-reaching economic measures, including an early
mini-budget intended to cut the country's deficit by more than 11.2 billion
Euros. The gambling and betting industries are among the most substantially
affected.