While a new report by MECN says the Italian gambling market is a forerunner in the liberalization of European gambling, an advocate general to the European Court of Justice said Italy\’s system of renewing licenses for betting on horse races in 1999 without a public tender was illegal.
Although in 2006 Italy introduced new rules, the case is part of a wider EU effort to crack down on state gambing monopolies and the ECJ is expected to take a final decision on it in the coming months.
MECN’s new study reveals that 80% of the international gambling operators surveyed believe that the Italian market will be of major relevance for their future business.
At the same time, a large majority of the experts interviewed believe that by 2010 international gambling operators will capture a relevant share of the Italian market, which by then is expected to grow to EUR 14 billion for the retail betting market and to EUR 3.7 billion for interactive gambling.
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