Italians like to try their luck more and more: from 2009 to 2010, revenue from gaming grew by 500 million euros, reaching 9,9 billion. Over 50% of this sum was produced by a single manager, Lottomatica. There is talk of almost 5 billion in total tax profit, of which 3,6 billion in terms of ordinary profit. The numbers were released this morning by the group's managing director, Marco Sala, who presented the company's 2010 social report in Rome. Today's meeting was also an opportunity to talk about the "Responsible Gaming Programme" promoted by Lottomatica, which has put in place a series of initiatives aimed at protecting players most at risk, especially minors, for example with the dissemination of the sticker "18+".
"Our campaigns linked to responsible gaming - the general manager of Lottomatica, Renato Ascoli told FIRSTonline - are not only a question of pure and simple ethics, which is also worthy in itself, but also have an important impact in terms cheap. Maintaining a good relationship with the players is essential to continue on the path of growth. Our goal is not to ensure that the same user base always spends more and more money in the game, a strategy that can bring results in the short term, but which in the long run proves to be a failure also in terms of business. On the contrary, we want to continue to expand the platform of our players, so that more and more people play the right game”.
And unlike European and global trends, the Italian gaming market is really expanding. Gamers exceeded 27 million, equal to 57% of the adult population. In 2010, gross deposits increased by 13%, reaching 61,4 billion euros (on average, it is as if every day all Italians gambled one euro), of which 44 billion were redistributed in prizes. In the same period, the Lottomatica network handled 3,4 billion transactions, for a value of 27 billion euros.
A thriving market that promises to make further leaps forward in the near future. Matteo Monteverdi, director of betting interactive and sales of Lottomatica, revealed to Agipronews that from 18 July the group will start "with poker cash and online casino games: we are warming up the engines and we have already prepared specific marketing initiatives for a market expected by so much so that it will broaden the target of online players”.
