Press Release N° 4
ENADA: GAMES AND BETS, THE SECTOR’S FIGURES
8 billion euros of tax revenue in 2015, compared with 7.9 in 2014.
71 billion euros in wins for players, 17 billion euros the real expenditure
Rimini, 13th March 2017 - In 2016, overall takings from gaming reached 88.2 billion euros, with an increase of
8% compared takings in 2015. Of this total, 71 billion was returned to players in the form of wins. So the real
expenditure – determined by the difference between overall takings (in other words the bets placed) and
wins – was approximately 17 billion euros.
Automatic machines boost tax revenue
Increased tax revenue: in 2015, thanks to public gaming activity, over 8 billion euros entered the coffers of
the State, an increase compared to the 7.9 billion of 2014. In particular, the majority of the revenue came
from coin-op amusement machines, i.e. AWP and VLT, with almost 4.5 billion euros. The remainder on the
other hand regarded revenue from all the other types of gaming: lotteries and other numerical games such
as Lotto, Superenalotto, Scratch cards, etc.
In any case, it’s worth remembering that the increase in revenue for the State from the AWP sector was due
to a consistent rise in the taxes.
The demand for online games, Superenalotto and Video lottery is increasing
The trend in takings during recent years highlighted the rise in remote gaming, in particular online gaming,
and consumers’ increasing indifference to betting on horse races and bingo. On the other hand, there was
an increase in the appeal of games with high wins (Lotto, Superenalotto, etc.) or immediate wins, such as
Video lottery and 10eLotto.
The real expenditure for each individual type of gaming was as follows: amusement machines (AWP, VTL,
Comma 7 machines with no cash wins): 9.3 billion euros; bingo: 449 million euros; numerical tote games
(SuperEnalotto; WinForLife): 671 million euros; horse race based games: 166 million euros; sports based
games: 518 million euros; lotteries: 2.4 billion euros; lotto: 2.2 billion euros.
Generally speaking, Bingo and Scratch Card have remained steady. There has been an increase for Lotto,
SuperEnalotto, sports-based games and remote (online) games. On the contrary, the crisis under way for
horse race based betting was confirmed.
The map of the economic and industrial sector
In Italy, the coin-op amusement, prediction and betting trade involves approximately nine thousand
enterprises (machine manufacturers, licensees and owners).
The most numerous category is that of the owners, with approximately 5,200 companies in business and a
total workforce of over 200,000.
Licensees total 605 and are divided as follows: 278 licensees in the horse-race and sports betting sector; 208
in Bingo; 104 in remote games; 13 in amusement games; 1 for Lotto, instant lotteries and tote games.
Revenue from the chain totals approximately 10 billion euros, subdivided between owners, licensees and
State Monopoly.
The coin-op machine map
In Italy a total of 610,186 coin-op amusement machines are installed, in approximately 90,000 public
venues.
More in detail, they are:
- 418,210 AWP (slot machines with a maximum bet of 1 euro and a maximum win of 100 euro) - the total
includes the machine in storage.
- 52,349 Video lotteries (machines that enable wins of up to 500,000 euros)
- 108,669 “comma 7” machines (models without cash prizes).
Source: Agenzia dei Monopoli – Libro Blu Anno 2015