Version: 08072003
Editor: Franka Pals
Publisher: Novamedia
Disclaimer: Novamedia disclaims all liability for information provided within the ”Novamedia European Gaming and Lottery Files”.The information is supplied by independent journalistic sources. No parts of these files may be reproduced in any form by print, photo print, microfilm or otherwise, or re-distributed electronically in any form without written permission from the publisher.
ATTACHMENTS
Italian_Gaming_Mkt_02.xls This is an Excel-file containing the following overviews:
1 Italian Gaming Market in Euro; 2 A complete overview of the Italian Gaming Market; 3 Price changes on the Italian Gaming Market.
This attachment can be obtained from our website, www.europeangamingandlotteryfiles.com, on the Italy-page.
The Italian Republic, Repubblica Italiana, is a peninsula situated in the Mediterranean surrounded by the Adriatic Sea in the Northeast and clockwise by the Ionian Sea in the south (underneath the high heel boot), the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Sardinian Sea and the Ligurian Sea. In the North surrounded by the countries (from the west to the east): France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia.
Milan is the biggest city with 1,369,000 inhabitants and Rome is the capital. And within Rome is the Vatican City State, The Holy See, which is only 0.44 sq km.
San Marino is another enclave in central Italy and is the third smallest state in Europe (after the Holy See and Monaco) and it claims to be the world's oldest republic. And of course San Marino has a national football team and is member of the UEFA, the European football association.
The total surface is 61.2 sq km with a population of nearly 28 thousand.
Besides the azzurri peninsula, Italy has two big islands: Sicily and Sardinia.
Italy is one open-air art gallery. No other country in the world can vaunt the same treasures of culture and art as Italy. According to the UNESCO half of the world's historic and artistic assets are within its boundaries. Combine this with Italy's gentle lifestyle, where good food and wine are around every corner, its history, its climate, its mountains and its beaches, than you may imagine, that Italy is a favorite tourism destination.
The influence of the Catholic Church in Italians' daily life is well known fact. Another fact is however that the Italian gaming market is the biggest in the world. The extremes united? Not according Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Genoa who has taken a strong position against gambling, lotteries, and games of chance. The Genoa prelate said the opposition to games of chance was an obvious matter of common sense, and therefore should be recognized as a universal moral law. He argued that government and society at large should undertake a drive to stop gambling.
"Man is not made for games, games are made for man," Cardinal Tettamanzi said. He acknowledged that games could offer a source of relaxation and enjoyment, which are "necessary and sometimes essential." But he argued that "when the game is motivated by profit," the results can "dominate" individuals, "depriving them of their freedom to act and chaining them in servitude."
He also observed that gambling discourages honest work. The cardinal said that society takes "a contradictory and schizophrenic position" when public expenses are subsidized by lotteries. He said the same contradictory attitude is on display when some forms of gambling are prohibited, but others receive official sanction and even encouragement.
The Italian stock exchange group, Borsa Italiana Group, is established in Milan and comprises of five companies.
Borsa Italiana S.p.A., the group leader and responsible for the organization and management of the Italian stock exchange. The Company, founded in 1997 following the privatization of the exchange and operational since 2nd January, 1998, is responsible for:
The Borsa Italiana's primary objective is to ensure the development of the managed markets, maximizing their liquidity, transparency and competitiveness and at the same time pursuing high levels of efficiency and profitability.
The stockholders of Borsa Italiana S.p.A. include the principal Italian banks as well as domestic and international institutional investors. Its current privatized structure configures Borsa Italiana as a market management body endowed with operational autonomy and flexibility. Among the principles that enshrine this structure, fundamental are the entrepreneurial character of the market organization and management activities and the separation of the responsibility for supervision (Consob and Banca d'Italia) from that of regulation and market management (Borsa Italiana).
Borsa Italiana organizes and manages the Italian stock market with the participation of nearly 140 domestic and international brokers who operate in Italy or from abroad through remote membership, using a completely electronic trading system for the real-time execution of trades. In addition, it performs organizational, commercial and promotional activities aimed at developing high value-added services for the financial community.
The other companies are service companies:
History
The mother of all lotteries lies in the lap of Italy and it is believed that the word "lottery" comes from "lotto", meaning 'destiny' or 'fate'. Some sources say that in 1515 a lottery was organized to elect members of the Senate in Genoa, Italy; later the names were changed into numbers. When Italy was unified in 1530, the lottery known as 'Lo Giuoco del Lotto d'Italia' was born. In Florence, Italy a "Number Lottery" with cash prizes were drawn. This weekly lottery has been held virtually every Saturday since its inception.
| Population: | 57,715,625 (July 2002 est.) |
|---|---|
| Age Structure | Age structure: 0-14 years: 14.1% (male 4,198,569; female 3,954,159) |
| Currency: | EURO (EUR); |
| GPD | purchasing power parity – $1.438 trillion (2002 est.) |
| Internet: | According to Nielsen/NetRatings (September, 2002) 14 million Italians were on line, more than 25%. 34 per cent of the country's 14 million Internet users, have a connection at home and 21 per cent have a connection at work. |
| Mobile Phones | Penetration by age segment at September 2002: |
| Interactive TV | A study of the Gartner Group reflects that the switch over from analogue to digital TV will not be completed before the year 2014. 84 per cent of those surveyed said a digital box with a 200 Euro price tag was too expensive, whilst 34 percent considered 50 Euro as too much to pay. The report estimates that with set-top boxes remaining between 100 Euro and 150 Euro until 2006, only 20 per cent of the Italian population will be converted to digital terrestrial by that stage. |
The State is the only entitled of the ownership of the games
The effective regulation reserves to the State only, the authority to run gaming activity both directly or through license agreement with private bodies or public institutions. This is to say that the State has the monopoly over any gaming activity.
D.Lgs. 14 aprile 1948 n.496.Art.1 The organization and the practice of any chance and pool games that leads to any kind of winnings and require a payment of a money's stake are reserved to the State; Art.2 the Ministry of Finance is entitled of the organization and of the practice of the activity described in the previous article. The Ministry of Finance can directly manage them or delegate them to natural or legal person. In this case the management fee and the management scheme will be set in a special agreement between the State and the Operator of the single game, with a legal framework as per art 5.
The market is so defined as the meeting between two different needs: the Public need of the presence of the State as regulator, and the need of the private operators actually running and managing the gaming activity.
In Italy running and managing games, bets and odds is a legal derogation of the general prohibition to run gambling in public places (i.e. bars, restaurants etc.) or private club (art. 718 penal code: Anyone in a public place or in private club of any kind runs, facilitates or supports gambling is punished with arrest for a period of time of three to ten months and with a fine not inferior to £ 400.000).
Gambling is defined by two elements:
So, only the presence of both these two elements leads to define a game as illegal. In theory there could be legal games if:
Illegal practice of gaming and bets activities
Art.4 L.13 dicembre 1989 n.401
Easily we can explain the logic of the Italian legislation with a simple assumption: any game not specifically authorized is forbidden.
Pool games have an important role in the Italian gaming market, even if they have a shorter history compared to the Lotto. In Italy there are 6 pool games authorized: TOTOCALCIO, TOTOGOL, TOTOSEI, TOTOBINGOL, SUPERENALOTTO and TOTIP.
The first 4 games based on football matches of the Italian championship are run directly by the CONI (Italian Olympic Committee).
SuperEnalotto, based on the numbers drawn for the Lotto, is run by the State and managed by SISAL S.p.A. through a license; Totip, based on horse racing results is run by the Ministry of Finance and the UNIRE (Italian horse breeding authority) and managed by Sisal.
The common legal framework for pool games is:
Two kinds of bets and odds are allowed in Italy: Horse Bets and Sport Bets.
Horse Bets
Until the law 23 dicembre 1996, n. 662, only UNIRE (the Horse Breeding Authority) was entitled to organize and manage directly or through license to third parties bets on Horse events, both on track and off track as set by the law 24 marzo 1942, n. 315.
With the law 662/96 the organization and the management of games and bets on horse events has been transferred to the Ministry of Finance and to Ministry of Agriculture, that can manage them directly or through license to third parties. This Law got its regulatory framework with the DPR 8 aprile 1998, n. 169.
Sport bets
The law 549 states that the Coni has the monopoly over the organization of the 'totalized' bets and fixed odds based on sport events organized under its control.
Coni can delegate all the activity connected with the organization of the bet to companies, can be licensed to natural or legal person, company or other legal entity through license agreement.
The regulatory framework of the Law 549/ 96 has been approved in 1998 with the DL n. 174, which concern only fixed odds.
There are two kinds of bets: tote and fixed odds:
A special tote horse bet is the Tris, which consist in the exact prediction of the placing of the first three horses in a specific horse race, which is collected both on track and off track.
The Tris races are run every day from Monday to Friday. The gambler can choose between two different bets:
The cost of a bet unit that is a single combination of three horses is £ 1.000 (Yuan 3.3), while the minimum bet is £ 2.000 (Yuan 3.3).
Lotto is the oldest game of the Italian market, and it has been managed by the Minister of Finance, through the Monopoly of the State, until 1992. Since 1993 is run by Lottomatica S.p.a, licensee of the game.
The game is based on the draw of 5 numbers on ten-lottery drum in ten different Italian towns. The winner is who predicts in whatever order 2, 3, 4 or 5 numbers drawn in a single lottery drum.
The win is a fixed multiple of the amount of money the gamblers has bet. It means that Lotto in Italy is a fixed odd.
The Laws concerning Lotto:
In Italy there are actually 2 kind of traditional lotteries: passive and scratch and win.
The technicality of the passive lottery is extremely simple. The sold ticket, identified by a code formed by a letter and a numeric combination, participate to a draw through which the prizes are assigned. The date of the draw is fixed before the sell of the ticket.
Each Lottery is connected with an event of any kind (sport, fair etc.) used as a brand for the lottery.
These events are fixed by a decree of the Minister of Finance that previously has set the number with the Parliament Commissions.
The Scratch and Win Lottery, the winning ticket has the indication of the win covered by a scratchable layer. Is until today the National Lotteries has been managed by the Monopoly of State, that is a Department of the Ministry of Finance. The distribution of the tickets was done by private distributors.
Tender for the License for National Lottery products
In January 2001 has been organized an international tender for the license of these games to a private operator. This decision has been taken for the poor performance of these games in the past three year.
Laws and regulation of the National Lotteries:
As shown in the introduction the State can decide to manage directly the games or to license them to a private operator.
Direct management of the games by the State
The State chooses the Department that has to manage the game, controlling every single part of the process (industrial, finance, distribution, sales, collection, prizes etc.). Today the Italian State, as a lot of other countries, has chosen to outsource this activity, licensing private operators in order to exploit their quality in increasing sales of ticket, and in this way collecting more taxes for public purposes.
The License
In the past the State used to outsource the games private contract with public or private operators judged able to manage lottery games. With the chosen operator it was used to sign a contract (convention) regulating all the aspect concerning the relationship between the State and the Licensee. In this contract were fixed the management fee, the penalties, the warranties, and the contract resolution articles.
If the second part of the process has not changed, now the choosing process is regulated by the law 157/95, that fix the regulatory framework for a Public Tender, in order to have the highest transparency in this crucial process.
The Authorization
Another legal scheme to outsource lottery games, but with not easily implementation, is the authorization framework.
In this legal framework the State fixes the technical and administrative requirements that an operator has to satisfy. Then any operator that can satisfy these requirements can collect the games. In this contest there is not the main characteristic of the license that means the exclusivity of the management typical of the licensee.
With the Authorization scheme there are different operators distributing the same product with the same economic and administrative condition.
D.Lgs 496/48 - General Disposition on Pool and on Chance games.
This decree states:
D.P.R. 581/51 - The regulatory framework of D.Lgs 496/48.
It set the regulatory framework for all the pool and chance games as defined in the law 496/48. It is divided in three parts:
Law n.662/1996 - Rationalization of the public finance.
With this law the games based on horseracing have been removed from the Unire authority and set under the control of the Ministry of Finance.
As shown before the Law 496/48 stated that UNIRE was entitled to manage games based on horse races both on track and off track, directly or through licensee.
With the law 662/96 Unire lost this right that has been assigned to the Ministry of Finance and to the Ministry of Agriculture that as usual can choose to run the games directly or to outsource them to private operators. The regulatory framework for this law has been set with DPR 8 aprile 1998, n. 169.
D.P.R. 169/98 - Regulatory framework for games and bets based on horse racing
This decree set the rules to assign horse games to a private operator, fixing the timing of the license, the kind of games and bet allowed by the Italian law, the rules in order to set the race included in the games, the distribution of the revenues rising from the game after the deduction of the prize payout between the operator, the state, the betting shop.
D.M. 174/98 - Regulatory framework for games and bets based on sport events organized by CONI as L. n. 549 of 1995.
This decree set the rules to assign based on sport events organized by CONI to private operators, fixing the timing of the license, the kind of games and bet allowed by the Italian law, the rules in order to set the race included in the games, the distribution of the revenues rising from the game after the deduction of the prize payout between the operator, the state, the betting shop.
Law n.133/99
This law introduced the possibility to organize bet based on events even not organized by Coni and by Unire. In the art. 16 it is stated that Ministry of Finance can set , even for a given period, the collection of new bet (both tote bets and fixed odds), through licensee operators of CONI and UNIRE that for these activity are allowed to use the same system and location used normally for their activity of CONI and UNIRE licensee. The MoF will fix the regulatory framework in order to set the timing and the condition of gambling, the division of money spent by the gambler between the prizes, tax, rights for the event organizers, collector's percentage. It is as well fixed a minimum percentage for the prize payout at 38%. For other tote bets the MoF states that they could be as well collected by other licensee of pool games, lotto and other games, with the only condition of being equipped with on line real time terminal.
D.M. 278/99 - as 16 della L. 13 maggio 1999, n. 133.
With this decree is set the regulatory framework for bets based on events not organized by CONI and UNIRE. Specifically, in order to increase the taxes risen by lottery games, is introduced a bet on Formula Uno Championship. This bet called Formula 101 is jointly managed by Sisal and Lottomatica.
D.M. 15/06/2000
This decree has introduced the possibility to collect tote bets and fixed odds via telephone or internet for the licensees.
D.M. N. 156 del 15/02/2001
This decree has introduced the possibility to collect lotto bets via telephone and internet for the licensee.
Finanziaria 2001 - Vlt regulation
The general legal framework for Bets, odds, pool gaming is extended to Video lotteries. These can be installed in public places (Bar, restaurant, tobacconist) and private club only if previously authorized by the Financial Administration. By the way the VLT cannot distribute prizes in money, but only token for consumption of products inside the place where the machine is installed.
While the taxes on SuperEnalotto and on the Lotto draw of Saturday go directly into the general State balance, all the taxes raised by the other games are financial sources for:
Tax Revenues**
(ITL Billion: 1YUAN= ITL 300)
| Products | Operators | Tax 2000 | Tax % | Handle 2000 | Market Share, % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUPERENALOTTO | SISAL | 2.598 | 53.69% | 4,84 | 17.97% |
| TOTIP | SISAL | 57 | 39.50% | 144 | 0.53% |
| FORMULA 101 | LOTTOMATICA SISAL | 19 | 44.00% | 44 | 0.16% |
| LOTTO | LOTTOMATICA | 3,188 | 22.38% | 14,24 | 52.89% |
| TRIS | SARABET | 284 | 31.82% | 894 | 3.32% |
| CONCORSI CONI | CONI | 483 | 31.21% | 1,547 | 5.74% |
| SCOM. IPPICHE | AGENZIE | 223 | 5.85% | 3,809 | 14.14% |
| SCOM. SPORTIVE | AGENZIE | 86 | 6.10% | 1,410 | 5.24% |
**plus ITL 320 billion of revenues for CONI
As shown before, every games not specifically authorized and regulated by the State is illegal. The philosophy adopted is that the State has to strictly control any gaming activity in order to prevent any distortion. In fact while games, gambling, lotteries are a good tool to raise sources for public activity, they could as well lead to social problem if completely not controlled.
In order to contrast illegal gambling, it is set a legal framework consisting in detention and fines for both their organizer and their consumer. These instruments, by the way, have shown their limit in preventing illegal gambling. In fact the behavior of the citizens has changed a lot, and the demand of games runs quicker than their offer.
In the meanwhile games that were reputed unmoral, today are seen by the citizens as a common entertainment. That's the reason that has lead to several changes in the legislation of games in Italy, licensing new games and introducing bets and odds on sport events and renewing the legislation for horse bets.
Proposals to contrast efficiently illegal gambling:
These proposals clearly move to an easier regulation of the legal games, allowing an easier introduction of games, and to a strict control over the illegal activities. The Demand of games not controlled by that state could in fact lead to an increase of illegal activity as for example usury.
Special attention has to be given to the new frontier of illegal gambling: Internet. In fact the absence of regulation in the net in the past five years has lead to proliferation of the black market. As well in this case only a regulation on the offer combined to strict control can stop this increase.
The introduction of new games has to see a strong connection between the State and the operators that normally have a deeper knowledge of the real demand present in the market.
In fact only a constant e renewed valuation of the demand in the market can avoid the growth of niche market for illegal gambling demand.
That does not mean a complete deregulation of the sector. It only means a control of the demand, implementing in this way the right games and their right regulatory framework.
Another aspect of the illegal gambling growth is the taxation.
High taxes on the stakes lead only to the increase of the demand of illegal gambling. In fact both the operator, that have lower margin, and the consumer, that have a lower return, would be unsatisfied. The result of too high tax rates will be an increase of the cost of bet (if possible the operator will try to increase the cost of the stake), and the consumers will turn their demand to illegal gambling that offer better stakes.
In fact if the stake between legal and illegal gambling are close to each other, the consumer has no reason to address his demand to illegal operators.
** Source: Sisal.
In the meantime some major changes took place in the Italian market. Sisal's analyst, Zasio Tommaso, explains: "The government has decided to give a major role to Monopoli di Stato (from June 2002), that now act as a Gaming Regulator for all the games and manages directly Instant and traditional passive lotteries (we are still waiting for the court appeal on the license bid).
The first move of this new gaming agency has been the Coni game affair.
Coni, the Italian Olympic committee, last year while they were defining the outsourcing of the management of the game to Lottomatica, fall into terrible financial problems.
The government decided to help CONI, which is a private organization, only if CONI gave back the license for its products to the government... I hope to be enough clear.
So, Monopoli di Stato has managed the 2002-2003 season of CONI pools and has organized an authorisational bid for the management of the renewed games for the next 5 seasons.
Lottomatica, Sisal and SNAI will distribute commonly the games from august 2003.
In July will be defined the number of outlets of each distributors. At the first stage of the process Sisal has 9,000 pos qualified, Lottomatica 2,500 and Snai 700.
The final network for CONI products will be of 25.000 shops. The process is organized in a way that allows all the ex-CONI retailers to choose the service provider to use as supplier.
Second thing is, in the definition of the operators. In fact while Sisal is licensee for the management, Lottomatica is licensee for the service. It seems a nonsense difference but because Gaming is a V.A.T. exempt activity in Italy, Sisal cannot charge the V.A.T. to the public administration, while Lottomatica van charge it to Monopoli di Stato. In other words for us V.A.T. is pure cost.
The different legal framework implies that Sisal decides on its own the composition of its retailers network, and how big it has to be, while Lotto retailers are only tobacconist and the network is decided by law by Monopoli di Stato. In fact the retailers are licensee by Monopoli and Lottomatica for the investment for the connection received subsidies from the Government."
Italy's gaming and betting market grew strongly between 1995 and 2000, as takings increased from 17, 343 to 26, 921 billion Lire. This process to select the company that will An approved report by the Senate Finance distribute the new Totocalcio has finished: Commission, revealed that the Italian gaming market is worth about 12.6 billion Euro, or 1.1% of GDP in 2001.
The illegal gaming market is estimated to be around 15 to 20 billion.
Legal gambling in Italy is second only to the USA (on year 2000 figures), with around per capita 271 euro.
The Lottery and the Superenalotto account for approximately 70% of the legal market. This sector gave the exchequer 3,182 million euro in the first nine months of the year 2002, taking into account the Euro 1,303 million by the monopoly of the Lotto and Superenalotto.
In another report on 'Italians and Gambling' by Confesercenti shows that in 2002, Italians spent 40 billion Euros on lottery and gambling. Half of that money was spent on illegal gambling, video games, and video poker. Citizens over 18 years old spend an average of 840 Euros per year on gambling.
Italy holds 9% of the world market on gambling, second only to the United States (29%).
Totip+
Totip+, a betting game on race horses, consists in predicting with the usual 1X2 marks the group to which the horses belong that in six races arrive, respectively, first and second, and the numbers of the first two horses in the seventh race. Launched by Sisal in 1948, Totip, which was quite successful in the early decades of its life has lately declined in popularity due mainly to its obsolete formula.
Totocalcio
Totocalcio, run by CONI (The Italian National Olympic Committee), is a lottery based on the football championship using the mechanism of 1X2 for 13 games; while it has always been the most popular Italian game, it has seen its popularity decline dramatically in the last five years, as the 1X2 formula has grown obsolete.
Totogol
Totogol is a lottery developed by CONI in 1994. Players must predict the eight out of thirty-two football matches, in which the largest number of goals is scored.
Totosei
Totosei: players must predict the number of goals scored by each team in six football matches.
Totobingol
Totobingol is the most recent of the games of chance run under CONI auspices; Totobingol made its debut on January 7, 2001. The new game consists of guessing the exact minute of each of the first four valid goals scored plus the final three, in one of the six matches included in the contest. To win, a player must total seven correct guesses, while prizes also will be awarded to players who total six and five correct guesses.
Formula 101
Formula 101 bet was established by Ministry Decree n° 278 - 2nd August 1999 and supplemented by Ministry Decree n° 205 - 6th august 2002. To play Formula 101 a player must guess the first eight cars/ motorcycles of any Formula 101/Moto GP/ Superbike and Motocross Grand Prix. It is the first Italian game to be managed by two separate companies: Lottomatica and Sisal, which have been running it since April 2000.
Tris betting
Tris betting was created in the racetracks in 1957 and consists of guessing which horses will take first, second and third places in a special race (the Tris race) according to a calendar of races prepared by UNIRE. Run by Sisal until last year, the Ministry of Finance opened the concession to competitive bidding and awarded the concession to Sarabet.
As requested from UNIRE and the actual operator, starting from the 4th November 2002, you can find TRIS in all Sisal's OTB's. (Offtrack-betting- shops)
Horse-race betting
Horse-race betting summed or at fixed rate, is collected by various operators. After a period of growth influenced by the three bet, they are now growing slowly despite a specialized sales network, which has grown 200%.
Betting on sporting events
Betting on sporting events recently introduced in the gaming market, run exclusively by CONI, is also managed by various operators.
Website: www.lottomatica.it
Lottomatica operates Italy's national lottery (Lotto). Other games include Tris (horse racing) and Formula 101 (car racing).
1990 Lottomatica S.p.A started in Rome
1993 Lottomatica has held the state concession for Lotto in Italy since 1993, when the Ministry of Finance granted the company the public powers to operate the game as a state concession. The concession expired in April 2003, and was automatically renewed until the end of April 2012.
1999 Lottomatica became the leading lottery operator in the world ranked by betting volumes, and later in 2000 it was classified in third place (Source: Le Fleur's Magazine).
2000 the 2nd December: Shareholders' meeting passes resolution on the project to list the Company on the Mercato Telematico Azionario of the Italian Stock Exchange.
Lottomatica S.p.A. is the leading gaming company in Italy, and operates in automated services for citizens and businesses. The company, whose principal shareholders were BNL with 25.5%, Olivetti with 19.5% and Sodip (100% Finsiel - Gruppo Telecom Italia) with 25.5%, has completely automated the Lotto game, which the company runs as a State concession holder. Since 1995 annual receipts from the Lotto have increased from approximately 5,400 billion lire to 14,230 billion lire in
2000. At the Consolidated level, in 2000 Lottomatica's value of production amounted to 847 billion lire, for a net profit of 95 billion lire. Since January 2000 Lottomatica has been collecting stakes for Tris on behalf of the Sara Bet concession, both directly and through subsidiary company Twin. Gaming income from Tris, a game associated with a special horse race, amounted to 894 billion lire, of which Lottomatica took in 397 billion and Twin 210 billion lire.
Since March 2000 Lottomatica has been acting as coordinator for the new Formula 101 game, by proxy of the FOA, as well as directly collecting receipts (worth over 9 billion lire in 2000).
The object of this game is to pick the first 8 cars to finish at every Formula 1 race. There are three levels of prize (gold, silver, bronze) and a jackpot for players who score the maximum of 101 points.
2001 17 September: Lottomatica S.p.A. and Cirsa Business Corporation S.A. signed an agreement in Barcelona for acquisition by Lottomatica of a 50% stake in Global Bingo Corporation S.A. (GBC). GBC is the Spanish bingo market leader with 52 bingo halls across the country (14 in the Madrid area, 14 in and around Barcelona and nine in Andalusia), with another four bingo halls currently at the start-up phase. This acquisition is a further step forward in Lottomatica's strategy to expand in Italy and abroad.
7 November: At its meeting on 7 November the Lottomatica Board of Directors expressed its strong satisfaction at the ruling issued by the Lazio TAR Court of appeal, which rejected the appeal presented by Sisal and GTECH regarding "Gratta e Vinci" scratchcards.
The Board of Directors declared that it was confident the State Monopoly Board would now rapidly proceed with the formalities necessary to commence new operations.
1 December: The meeting of the Board of Directors of Lottomatica, held on December 1, 2001, was informed of the Public Offer to purchase the Company communicated by Tyche on November 23 last.
The Board of Directors also unanimously ratified the urgent measure adopted by Lottomatica on November 24 last, in response to the communication received from Tyche.
The Board of Directors of Lottomatica has also noted that the price offered by Tyche is lower than the market price on the day the communication was sent.
Once in possession of the offer document, the Board of Directors of Lottomatica will make its assessment public within the legally required deadline.
2001 December 28: De Agostini SpA, an Italian publisher, raised its offer to buy Lottomatica SpA by 9% to US$1 billion, winning the support of its biggest shareholders and heading off a takeover fight for the manager of Italy's biggest lottery.
De Agostini, a 100-year-old publisher of encyclopedias and maps, is now offering 6.55 Euro cash for each Lottomatica share, valuing the lottery company at 1.17 billion Euro (US$1 billion). That compares with an original bid of 6 Euro a share. Lottomatica shares fell 2.7% to the 6.55 euro offer price.
Lottomatica controls more than half of Italy's betting market, selling tickets into games like Lotto and Tris at over 26,000 betting outlets.
Rome-based Lottomatica had rejected De Agostini's original offer as too low. While Lottomatica didn't say today if its board will support the bid, shareholders controlling more than half the company said they will accept the offer. The board will meet on January 4 to evaluate the bid.
2002 8 March: Lottomatica S.p.A. has agreed to acquire 100% of Playservice S.p.A., a company controlled by the Lao family, the largest shareholder of the Cirsa Group, which operates in the Bingo sector.
The acquisition fits with Lottomatica's strategy of diversifying within the gaming sector and, in particular, forms part of the wider agreement between Lottomatica and Cirsa Business Corporation S.A.. In September 2001, this resulted in Lottomatica's acquisition of a 50% stake in Global Bingo Corporation S.A. (GBC).
The deal will give Lottomatica access to the Italian Bingo market via the direct management of 8 halls, located in central and northern Italy.
Lottomatica has agreed to pay 2.1 million Euro, with something approaching a further 10 million Euro necessary in order to complete work on the 8 Bingo halls.
2002 18 May: Lottomatica S.p.A. reconfirms the transaction, which has a value of less than Euro 10 million, regarding the acquisition via the subsidiary, Lottomatica Sistemi S.p.A., of a division of EIS-Elettronica Ingegneria Sistemi S.p.A. and of controlling interests in Toto 2000 Srl and Betting Service Srl relating to "the supply of services" to the concessionaires who collect bets on horse racing and other sports.
2002 11 June: A consortium led by Lottomatica has won the license to manage CONI's automated sports betting games (Totocalcio, Totogol, Totobingol and Totosei). As part of the contract, the consortium will also acquire 49% of Cinque Cerchi at a cost of Euro 38.1 million, with the other 51% to remain in the hands of CONI.
The offer was submitted by Lottomatica (which has an 87% stake in the consortium), together with Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, UTS Srl, Citec SpA and Telcos SpA. The license has a duration of 15 years.
Cinque Cerchi, whose operations are to be managed by Lottomatica, will have a license to supply and operate the information system, electronic machinery, equipment and related programmes and services. It will also be responsible for advertising, the creative aspect of the games, the collection of receipts and effecting payments.
Cinque Cerchi is also expected to devise new betting games and games linked to the world of sport, on behalf of CONI.
2002 16 July: Tyche S.p.A. and Lottomatica S.p.A. are merging and Tyche will take on the name "Lottomatica".
Meetings of the boards of directors of Tyche S.p.A. and Lottomatica S.p.A. approved Tyche's acquisition of Lottomatica via a merger of the two companies. The former shares are to be immediately listed on the Mercato Telematico Azionario (Italian screenbased stock market) with effect from the date the merger becomes effective.
Tyche, a subsidiary of the De Agostini Group, won control of Lottomatica in December 2001 after launching a public offer for the company's entire share capital. From today Tyche joins Lottomatica in introducing one of the forms of corporate reorganization already talked about as a possibility at the time of the takeover.
Based on the premise that Tyche is entirely self-financed, the proposed transaction will not affect the shareholder structure of Lottomatica, bit will rationalize its capital structure.
The proposed exchange ratio is indeed based on the allotment of one Tyche share with a par value of Euro 1.00 for every two Lottomatica shares with a par value of Euro 0.50 held by shareholders other than Tyche. The Lottomatica shares currently owned by Tyche will, on the other hand, be cancelled rather than exchanged. In this way Tyche's post-merger shareholder structure will be identical to Lottomatica's shareholder structure prior to the merger.
2002 September 26: the shareholders of Lottomatica S.p.A. approved the planned merger of Lottomatica into Tyche S.p.A., the parent company. The shareholders of Tyche S.p.A. had approved the merger in the extraordinary part of the meeting held on September 24, 2002, resolving in the ordinary part to list Tyche S.p.A. on the Mercato Telematico Azionario, effective as of the merger date.
The consolidated accounts for the first quarter of 2003.
Consolidated revenues amounted to Euro 248 million. This figure, however, includes the value of the prizes and taxes paid by the Bingo division, whilst revenues from the top-up of prepaid phone cards include the face value of top-ups for Wind and Tiscali customers.
After eliminating the revenues from such items, total revenues amount to Euro 136 million (19% down on the same period of 2002).
The decline in revenues during the first three months of 2003 was due to a 29% downturn in Lotto receipts, which thus resulted in reduced fees paid to Lottomatica.
On the other hand, the figures for overall Lotto receipts during the period cannot be taken as representative of the annual trend. The decline in Lotto receipts is due entirely to the phenomenon of "delayed" numbers, of which there were many during the first quarter of 2002, but which proved to be few during the first three months of 2003 (representing a fall of 75%).
Moreover, the reduction in Lotto receipts does not have a proportionate effect on the Company's revenues, thanks to the margin curve, on the basis of which Lottomatica's fee is determined and which insulates Lottomatica's revenues from the impact of volatile receipts over the year.
A turnaround can already be seen in April 2003, with Lotto receipts up 18% from Euro 532 million in April 2002 to Euro 629 million as of April 30, 2003.
Revenues from services, on the other hand, were up 70% from the Euro 11.8 million of the first quarter of 2002 to Euro 20.2 million during the first three months of 2003. After excluding the face value of topup cards and the fees received from Lotto outlets, net growth amounts to 30% (up from Euro 7.7 million during the first quarter of 2002 to Euro 10 million in the same period of 2003). The best results were represented by sales of mobile top-up cards (up by a gross 141% to Euro 13.3 million), with over 17 million top-ups sold through the Lottomatica system.
Ebitda was down 43% to Euro 49.3 million from the Euro 87 million of the same period of 2002, whilst Ebit, which totaled Euro 56 million for the first three months of 2002, amounted to Euro 19 million (down 65%) in the first quarter of 2003.
For the above reasons, these results again cannot be taken either as representative of the annual trend or as comparable with the figures for the same period of the previous year.
Net income amounted to Euro 11.7 million compared with the Euro 31.8 million of the same period of last year (a fall of 63%).
Debt, in contrast, is down to Euro 40 million (Euro 45.2 million as of December 31, 2002).
Shareholders' equity is up from the Euro 659 million of December 31, 2002 to 674 million as of March 31, 2003
website: www. grattaevinci.it
Gratta e Vinci, the national instant lottery, became a state monopolist in 1994. Gratta e Vinci (Scratch and Win) is the privatized national instant lottery game with a turnover of 619 m Euro from. The consortium is made up of Lottomatica, Scientific Games and the Federa tion of Italian Tobacconists. Lottomatica is the operator from, November 2001.
website: www.snai.it
SNAI (Sindacato Nazionale Agenzie Ippiche) S.p.A was established in 1990 as a 'service provider' in the gaming industry. Now the SNAI Group exists of the Holding SNAI SpA and the companies:
Others companies:
The SNAI Group became, a service provider in the field of gaming and betting.
With its design and production capabilities, the SNAI Group can today offer an allround service: from providing technology and services, creating computerized data transfer networks, and designing dedicated Internet gambling platforms to the design and production of satellite television channels, the conception and development of gaming venues and hardware and software specialization in the IT sector; from the organization of sports and other events to the marketing of all products dedicated to the gaming and betting market, including integrated communications launches.
The SNAI Group is quoted on the Milan Stock Exchange under the name SNAI.
1998 Thanks to a strategy based on an ability to innovate and diversify the areas of activity, 1998 closed at a profit. SNAI S.p.A.'s consolidated balance announced a consolidated net worth of 155.2 billion Lire, a turnover of 114 billion Lire, with a growth of 29% compared to 1997, and a net profit of 4.7 billion Lire.
1999 The Group closed 1999 with a consolidated pre-budget turnover equal to 166 billion Lire, with an increase of 46% compared to 1998.
2000 In 2000 there was confirmation of the increase in both the consolidated turnover of the Group (315 billion Lire, +92% compared to 1999) and the Gross Operational Margin (57 billion Lire, +177% compared to 1999). The operating profit rose to 27.6 billion Lire, against a loss of 1.8 billion Lire in 1999.
2001 During the course of 2001, because of an increase in the horse-racing and sports betting market which developed over a longer period than had originally been expected even by the institutional bodies, the SNAI Group registered consolidated revenues of 83.7 million Euro, compared to the 162.5 million Euro of 2000; the consolidated GOM (EBIDTA) reached 4.5 million Euro, compared to the 30.1 million Euro of 2000.
The SNAI parent company closed the financial year of 2001 with profits of 42.7 million Euro (against the 45.6 million Euro of 2000). the Gross Operational Margin was negative, for 1.3 million Euro (it was positive, for 13.6 million Euro during the preceding financial year). The operating result of the SNAI parent company, which was significantly influenced by devaluations in the shareholdings for 28.1 million Euro and by the appropriations and devaluations in the deferred charges for 11.5 million Euro, was attested to in the form of a negative value of 47.8 million Euro (+1.98 million Euro in 2000).
The year 2001 represents a golden opportunity in the gambling market with the opening of 420 bingo halls in Italy, after resounding successes in Great Britain, Spain and Portugal, as well as across the whole of South America.
SNAI is a service and technology provider for Bingo concessionaires. It has developed the "Global Service Bingo SNAI" project, aimed at all operators who have decided to meet the challenges of the market with skill and professionalism. Consultancy services will cover the areas of finance, law, design and communications. The Group's Industrial Plan foresees that it will still be operating at a loss in 2002, even if to a significantly lesser extent than in 2001; that in 2003 it will break even; and that in 2004 it will make a profit. "The first effects of launching the Industrial Plan have made it possible to obtain positive results during the first quarter of 2002: the consolidated turnover, equal to 24.6 million Euro, is 8.4% higher than the first three months of operation in 2001. The consolidated GOM (EBIDTA) shows an increase of 266%, passing from 0.8 million Euro to 2.1 million Euro. The operating profit, while remaining negative for 1.6 million Euro, has improved considerably compared to the negative balance of 3.6 million Euro for the first quarter of 2001." "Furthermore, within the framework of launching the Industrial Plan, SNAI Servizi Spazio Gioco S.r.l., SNAIcomS.r.l., and Logisistem S.r.l. were incorporated by merger into SNAI S.p.A. on 23 July 2002."
Snai Shares dropped by 10.96%, to 3.688 Euro, on May 3rd, 2002, after the decision of international auditing firm KPMG not to certify SNAI's 2001 accounts.
KPMG claimed that it does not have enough data on the sale of some properties in Milan and on the measures taken to consolidated two-thirds of the company's debt. KPMG also asked for more information on the accounts of Snai's South Korean subsidiary.
In November, 2002, Snai, has upwardly revised its consolidated net loss for the first half of its current fiscal year from 3.149 million to 11.450 million Euro. The group attributes this worsen ing situation to a bigger-than-expected write-down of the credit granted to a related company and the fact that capital gains on disposals in the first six months of this year have been carried over to the second half.
At the same time, Snai's consolidated net assets have been reduced from 48,304 million to 40,003 million Euro.
(Source: COMTEX)
SNAI is the main provider of outsourcing services for gambling and betting operators, and is market leader with over 850 participating gaming and betting venues (69% of the total number of acceptance points operating in Italy).
The Group is made up of companies and divisions specialized in the design and management of electronic and satellite instruments for gaming collection. Its electronic, on-line system is unique in Europe, linking the Ministry of Finance's national Totalisator to more than 8,000 Punti SNAI terminals. In 2001, SNAI developed a system to accept bets, by internet, television and telephone for the Italian betting shop market. This was achieved with the collaboration of our sister company, Festa srl.
Through its commercial and communications division, SNAI com, the SNAI Group has designed and completed a coordinated image communication project on the basis of an exclusive 'turnkey' formula. Thanks to the "Immagine globale PUNTO SNAI", the gambling and betting venues have become places where sporting passions can be lived out to the full. Participating SNAI concessionaires benefit from centralized services, which include the calculation, and setting of opening odds, the monitoring of totalisator games, national advertising campaigns, customer care, technical assistance, staff training and publishing products.
The system consists of accepting bets in real time, right up to the very moment before the sporting event begins. The ticket is validated in two tenths of a second, so bets can be monitored constantly. Through SNAI Servizi Spazio, the Group coordinates the betting collection centre, and bets are transmitted via electronic systems to the Ministry of Finance totalisator.
The Punti SNAI are also backed by an assistance and maintenance network accessible throughout Italy and coordinated by Link. Age. The SNAI call centre, operative since 1998, provides updated information on horse racing and sports betting. It began taking telephone bets in 2001.
Varenne: an athlete called horse
The SNAI Group has worked to make the horse-racing culture widely diffused with the public at large, averting its disappearance as a result of the progressive drawing away of spectators from the race courses. In May 2000, the SNAI Group acquired exclusive rights for the exploitation via advertising of Varenne, one of the greatest trotting champions of all times.
The acquisition of the image rights to Varenne was aimed at making him a testimony to the "new" Italian horse racing, enabling this sport to recapture the front pages of newspapers and radio and television newscasts.
The imposing communications activity, which began in 2000 with an advertising campaign, has acquainted the Italian public at large with the trotting champion, he has been also sponsored by TIM until he ends his competitive racing days.
Trenno
The Trenno company, taken over by SNAI in 1995, manages the activities of three racecourses in Milan, for both trotting and horse racing, and the Montecatini trotting circuit, handling the organization and management of race and sports structures, horse training and all support activities. Between 1995 and 1999, as majority shareholders of Trenno, SNAI invested more than 18 billion lire ($7,900,000) in the refurbishment of the structures of the three venues and adjacent areas. In particular, the central complex of the San Siro racecourse (which features one of the best tracks in Europe) was entirely refurbished in Modern style, and now features cutting-edge lighting equipment for night-time racing.
The Milan racecourses also host events and shows, some non-sporting, coordinated and supervised by SNAI Promotion.
With 1.8 million square meters of green space and services in the heart of Milan, the trotting and horse racing courses are a heritage that SNAI has made available to the general public, promoting a varied range of activities in collaboration with institutions and companies seeking to offer quality products in the entertainment market. The proximity of the "Giuseppe Meazza" stadium, other sports venues and the Trenno park within the San Siro district have led to the racecourses becoming popular destinations, forming a hub for the development of a modern Urban Entertainment District.
Revealing research by the SDA Bocconi university has demonstrated and confirmed the importance of these spaces, situated just a few minutes from the city's historic centre. Thanks to the advisory support of Deutsche Bank and the collaboration of various companies and institutions, the Milan racecourses already play host to a number of various activities.
The erection of the "Leonardo's Horse" statue, an important equestrian sculpture inspired by the original drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, and donated by the Leonardo da Vinci's Horse Foundation to the Municipality of Milan, marks the first step towards the completion of Italy's first 'culture park'.
The SNAI Group also manages an integrated media and new media system. The satellite television network broadcasts coverage of races at courses in Italy and other countries, data concerning the volume of bets and information about tips and forecasts. Four satellite channels produce daily output for betting acceptance Points - Unire 1, Unire 2, SNAI Sat and SNAI Gold. The TV broadcasts can be received in the home on SNAI Sat, part of the Stream bundle. 130 local analogue transmitters in Italy broadcast a selection of programmes produced by SNAI, within the SNAI Network.
SNAI S.p.A. also publishes the newspaper Sport & Scomesse. Available at newsagents three days a week, Sport & Scomesse supplies results, forecasts, odds and analysis.
This traditional publications is complemented by electronic media publications at: www.snai.it, www.sportescommesse.it, www.trenno.it, www.bingosnai.it, and www.giocasport.biz to bet on sport and horses.
Website: www.sisal.it
Sisal AsP is the private company that introduced betting games in Italy and is controlled by the Molo family, with its Legal Headquarters in Milan. At present Sisal has a network of 18,000 betting points with 20,000 state-of-the-art on-line terminals, through which it collects approximately 2.582.284.495,45 Euro for games, of which 1.032.913.798,18 Euro go to the State.
5.4.1 History
1946 Sisal invented the game (later called Totocalcio). Sisal introduced Totip, the only horse race betting. Italians spent 516.456.899,09 Euro the amount spent on gaming had already risen to over 5.164.568.990,89 Euro Sisal offered Tris betting in its offices. Sisal devised a new formula for the Enalotto lottery and proposed it to the Ministry of Finance. SuperEnalotto, a media phenomenon and a popular hit without precedent, was born.
2000 Sisal obtained the concession to manage Formula 101, a tote bet on Formula 1 world auto racing. Bingo was instituted by the Ministry of Public Revenue with Decree n. 29 dated 31-1-00, although the 420 bingo parlours distributed throughout Italy. The rules of the game are exactly the same as for the familiar game of tombola.
2001 the game market joined a range of 14.525.813.919,55 Euro
2002 November 11: Sisal resumed Tris offtrack betting operations in Italy. Following international bidding procedures in late 1999. Tris was operated by a new company, Sarabet (www.sarabet.it), resulting in a significant loss of sales, market share and funds raised for the Italian State and horse racing authority. As requested from UNIRE (Unione Nazionale Incremento Razze Equine) and the actual operator, starting from the 4th November 2002, one may find TRIS in all Sisal's OTB's. (Offtrack-betting- shops), as well as via www.sarabet.com.
2003 February 17: Italian banks Bipielle and Meliorbanca have each acquired a 15% stake in Sisal.
Sisal manages Totip+ and SuperEnalotto and Formula 101
Totip+
For over fifty years, 52 weeks a year, Sisal is punctually distributed the Totip betting slip to licensed betting points throughout Italy. From 1948 to today, about 83 million winners have shared over 949.247.780,53 Euro in winnings. Totip is the leading pools competition, along with Totocalcio (also invented by Sisal in 1946).
In July 1995, Totip was transformed into Totip+, and its bets increased from 12 to 14. Along with the classic 6 races (for each the marks 1X2 are used to indicate the group to which the first horse and runner-up belong), the new slip contains a space for Corsa+ where the player marks the numbers of the first two horses to place, independently of their order of arrival.
Totip+ is thus the first horse-racing lottery to pay four categories of winnings: 10, 11, 12 and 14. The prize money is divided into four equal shares for the four groups of winners. If no one realizes 14, the 25% of the prize money set aside for the 1st category is added to the Jackpot, which is accumulated week after week until someone wins the "12+2".
The Jackpot mechanism can lead to winnings worth billions of lire. That is just what happened on 17 March 1996, game number 11, when a single winner earned exactly 2.102.238,84 Euro. On 29 November 1998, thanks to a system, 100 lucky players in Pescara won 2.136.714,40 Euro.
Today, Totip+ is showing signs of fatigue and suffers from the competition of more recent lotteries based on more up-to-date betting mechanisms.
Sisal has submitted to U.N.I.R.E. and the Ministry of Finance a project proposal to redesign the game's formula with the aim of improving its competitive edge and boosting its tax revenues.
The Ministry of Finance signed a decree providing for a 10-month extension of the SISAL concession for the Totip horse racing pool game, previously due to expire on July 31, 2003.
SuperEnalotto
The Enalotto lottery is forty years old and Sisal has run it since April 1996, after tendering the winning bid to the Ministry of Finance After taking over management of the game, Sisal proposed a change in the game's formula to the Ministry of Finance in order to make it simpler and more appealing. The Ministry issued a decree on 30 October 1997 authorizing the change and approving the new formula.
To play SuperEnalotto, a player must guess, in any order, the first six numbers extracted from the lottery wheels of Bari, Florence, Milan, Naples, Palermo and Rome. The players with 6 points (six correct guesses) win, but so do players who win 5+1 (those who have marked their betting slip not only with five correct guesses but also with the joker or wildcard number, the first number extracted from the Venice lottery mixing drum), and those who have realized 5, 4 or even only 3 points.
The prize money for the "6" and the "5+1" that is not won is accumulated in the jackpot for subsequent weeks.
This makes SuperEnalotto the simplest game, with the highest winnings and the largest number of people who win. On 6 February 1999 SuperEnalotto established a truly exciting record, when a lucky player at Grottaglie (TA) won 44.655.183,88 Euro. That topped the first fantastic record of 31 October 1998 when 100 lucky players of Peschici (FG) won 32.706.977,38 Euro. One of the latest record winnings of 36.008.710,05 Euro was made by a fortunate gambler at Roma on 27 October 2001 and another one of40.860.370,58 Euro on 17th April 2002 was realized in San Vito dei Normanni (BR).
SuperEnalotto was supported by a large publicity campaign in which Sisal invested 16.526.620,77 Euro. The campaign, which was launched in June 2000, was intended primarily to reposition the game, associating it with fun, enjoyment and ease of play.
Indicating its approval of Sisal's work, on 28 September 2000 the Ministry of Finance renewed the convention for the management of the SuperEnalotto lottery for a term of two years followed by an additional twoyear term, that is, through 2005.
The largest percentage of tax yields: no other game in Italy or Europe gives the Treasury 54% of total gaming receipts.
The Formula 101 bet was established by Ministry Decree n° 278 - 2nd August 1999 and supplemented by Ministry Decree n° 205 - 6th august 2002. To play Formula 101 a player must guess the first eight cars/ motorcycles of any Formula 101/Moto GP/ Superbike and Motocross Grand Prix.
With an apposite convention signed with the Ministry of Finance, Sisal has been authorized, together with Lottomatica, to manage the game in its 18.000 betting shops, for 6 years.
Formula 101 started in April 2000, with the San Marino Grand Prix; with the first game of this year, started the 23d of March with the G.P. of Malaysia, the bet formula has been modified and the name of the new game is now Formula 101 GP.
Thanks to an agreement between FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) and Sisal, the Administration of State monopoly has created a new betting formula with more events to bet on (in 2002 we had 17 events, in 2003 33.), with the introduction of a jackpot on the three winning categories (8 points: gold; 7 points: silver; 6 points: bronze) and many other news that has simplified the game compared to last year.
Every office now has a business satellite channel (Hotbird 1 at 13° east) is wholly owned by Sisal, which produces and broadcasts 16 hours a day. The signal is encrypted at the highest level of security and decrypted by a decoder of Scientific Atlanta, a firm that also supplies the American Army.
Today, 14,000 sales points (all equipped with satellite dish and decoder) are linked, and Sisal intends to complete the entire network in a very short time.
Sisal's TV station broadcasts talk shows, the latest news from the tracks, gaming information and advice, news, live coverage of Tris and Totip+ races, as well as service information for the licensed betting points.
Authoritative journalists and well-known figures in the Italian sports world make up an editorial team of the highest level in terms of experience on gaming and horseracing. A teletext (SisalText) service furnishes useful data and information for betting point operators and their clientele of betting fans.
Lo Sportsman is a daily newspaper generally recognized as the "Official Bulletin" of horse-racing. All the legislative and sports information, the latest news, photos of major events and analysis by experts can be found in an objective paper that provides detailed and comprehensive information.
Lo Sportsman has a daily run of approximately 32,000 copies and is distributed throughout Italy.
Scommesse Sportive (subtitled "Tutto Tris e Totip") is published every three weeks and is specialized in betting. It offers an updated panorama on racing events and related games, providing technical advice, forecasts and gaming advice. It also facilitates the work of system players with the freshest data and numbers. This paper, with a run of 35,000 copies, is also distributed throughout Italy.
Since January 1st 2000 the brand name Match Point has characterized all the agencies SPATI, the most important Italian licensee of betting agencies and leading one in Europe. In late 1999 in fact the CONI and the Finance Ministry called for tenders in order to grant private dealers to collect sports and horse bets and SPATI obtained a license for 142 selling points. This result makes Match Point the most intensive network in Italy covering a segment equal to 15% of total gambling points.
Match Point stands out as the most relevant Italian gambling network: 142 agencies specialized in horse and sports races, 1,200 high-tech terminals, fully equipped, modern, cozy and greatly technological selling points provided with over 6,000 TV monitors with stakes on real time and live sports images.
Within the network Match Point you can bet on all sports competitions run under the control of CONI (so-called Totoscommesse): soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis, rugby, motorcycling, motor racing and sailing You can place single and/or multiple bets according to the types set by CONI and bound to meet all players' needs. Regarding the horse games licensed by the Finance Ministry, you are likely to play in the agencies Match Point, all the week round, betting on trotting and galloping held in Italian and foreign race tracks; all classic types of bets are possible: winning, placed, double, trio and Tris.
Strong point of the network Match Point is that there is just one licensee for all 142 agencies. This fact guarantees a sole bank as well as higher and stable stakes: the same in Palermo and Bolzano, therefore it makes the player feel more secure and protected (most of the Italian market is, instead, characterized by so many licensees who run few agencies, each. In line with the norms and regulations, which will come in force, the network Match Point is ready to accept bets also via internet and telephone.
In 2000 bets amounted to over 216.911.897,62 Euro, whereas in 2001 the operation overcomes 335.696.984,41 Euro.
The wins reserved for players meanly represent 70%, Match Point will paid therefore in 2001 prizes at over 232.405.604,59 Euro: as a reference parameter, Totocalcio paid around 273.722.156,52 Euro as wins.
Regarding sports, most bets are focused on soccer (bets on the Italian Leagues A and B, European Cups and main foreign championships are also possible), yet bets on tennis, basketball, volleyball, skiing, rugby, cycling, sailing, athletics, swimming and motor racing are also very popular.
Presently in Italy there are three categories of agency:
From December 2001 the first Bingo Hall in Italy was opened (operated by the Spanish gaming group Cirsa).The Italian economy ministry has awarded 420 licenses for other halls. The number of halls in the country will rise to 800 by 2003.
Bingo has been well received in Italy because of the revenue that it will provide the state (which will mainly be used for cancer research) and because it is expected to create 13,000 new jobs. The government collects 23.8% of all Bingo turnover. Almost 60% is allocated in prize money, while the remaining 18.2% is retained by the operator.
Under Italian law, bingo halls are open six days a week (including public holidays) for a minimum of eight hours.
Operator
CIRSA, the bingo multinational, intends to invest 500 million Euro in 36 bingo halls in Italy. CIRSA hopes that between 500 and 600 players per day will guarantee a monthly turnover of 500,000 Euro (a card costs 3,000 lira, or 1.5 Euro).
Cirsa operates in Italy through its controlled companies PlayService and Amico Bingo and announced that it is to invest around 31 million Euro in Italy till the end of 2003.
Italian IT and telecoms holding company Olivetti has a 4.98% stake in Cirsa, while Lottomatica, the Italian lotteries operator, has a 50% stake in Global Bingo Corporation.
According to casino history.com, in 1626 in Venice (Italy, ) a public gambling house was legalized for the first time. Soon the high Venetian society met in so called little houses or "casini" to indulge in everything from business dealings, politics, gambling and more carnival pleasures. "Casino" became synonymous with vice and perdition.
After the second WW casinos were introduced in certain tourist regions.
Also Baccarat is claimed to be coming from Italy. According to many, the game was first invented in Italy by a gambler Felix Falguiere, where it acquired the Italian name 'baccara', meaning zero in English. It's been suggested that the game was first played with a deck of Tarot cards in the middle ages. It was later on introduced in France around 1490 A.D. and remained an exclusive game to the French nobility for some time before becoming a casino game. Eventually, baccarat evolved into European baccarat and the French game 'chemin de fer'. Source: onlybaccarat.com
Casinos in Italy: