Flutter vs Lottomatica: The Battle for Italy’s Booming iGaming Market

The Italian sports betting and iGaming market is changing rapidly after the 2025 gambling law reforms, and Flutter – owner of brands like FanDuel, Sky Bet, and Paddy Power, is betting big on the European country. The licensing reforms were made to sieve out unlicensed or offshore operators, cleaning up the sector for customers, and creating more oversight for the gambling authorities. Insiders have claimed that the reforms have made it a lot more difficult for smaller or independent brands to get a share of the market. Benefitting bigger companies like Flutter.

Well now, Flutter is going for the kill, and staking its bets against Lottomatic, the local Italian conglomerate that has long held a significant portion of the market. Lottomatic has benefitted from these reforms, boasting a 31.8% of the Italian market, but Flutter, with 31% is right behind them. The markets are heating up, and it looks like Italy will be one of the most aggressive battlegrounds for iGaming operators in Europe.

Flutter vs Lottomatica Market Share

Just a few years ago, Lottomatica comfortably controlled around 21-22% of the Italian online gambling market, and was seen as one of the bigger firms in the country. It then acquired SKS365, and with the new reforms made by the Italian gambling authorities, or ADM, this market share has grown exponentially. In their 2025 report, Lottomatica claimed to command a good 31.8% of the market share across the online betting and casino sectors. A leading conglomerate, Lottomatica has several companies in Italy, including Lottomatica sports, poker, bingo and casino games, as well as dedicated sports brands like GoldBet and Intralot.

But Flutter is closing the gap on Lottomatica and giving the Italian company a good run for the top spot in the market. Flutter only entered the Italian market in 2022, with its acquisition of Sisal, but the company has not sat idly in the country. It has brought several other products into Italy, expanding its Italian portfolio in an attempt to seize the majority in the market. The Italian gambling reforms, which saw hundreds of skin sites taken down, and a general clean up of the online betting industry has arguably served both companies well.

With smaller competition struggling, and even operators like Unibet and Betway leaving Italy, Flutter and Lottomatica have grown. These two big firms have taken over 60% of the market, Italy is heading towards a very tight and rigid iGaming market.

Flutter’s Expansion into Italy

Flutter’s Italian Brands: Sisal, Snai/Snaitech, PokerStars, Tombola

Flutter has invested in Italy aggressively with smart strategies. Instead of jumping in and working from scratch, the company acquired established operators with existing customer bases and regulatory permissions, giving itself a head start in Italy. It all started with the acquisition of Sisal in 2022, followed by Snaitech in 2024. Flutter, in the meantime, has worked in its existing brands like the famous poker room platform, PokerStars, Flutter’s betting exchange, Betfair, and even its UK bingo operator – Tombola.

These are new brands for Italian audiences, but they focus on many of Italy’s favorite gambling pastimes. Flutter has a strong background in sports betting, and with revolutionary parlay betting products and innovative props bets, it is bringing some of the key American betting preferences to the country. Slots may take the number one spot for Italian gamblers, but sports betting is one of the fastest growing sectors, especially due to the Italian love of soccer and betting on soccer.

Lottomatica’s Longstanding Reputation

Lottomatica Brands: Lottomatica, GoldBet, Better, Intralot

Lottomatica, on the other hand, has more cultural ties to Italy. It is a local company that has been serving Italians for decades, with a major presence both online and through physical betting shops. This retail gambling infrastructure is still very important in Italy, where engagement with lottery products, gaming halls and physical betting shops remains high. Lottomatica also has online products, including sports betting, bingo, lottery products, and online casino games, and it does not need to go out on a limb to win over Italian customers.

The company has a strong reputation, and it is a popular choice for locals. Though Flutter’s tactic is to scale products and introduce new verticals, Lottomatica is holding its own with its classic products. The reforms, which increased licensing costs and made it more expensive for operators to run multiple verticals, has also worked heavily in Lottomatica’s favor. As the Italian market continues to grow, they don’t need to put as much emphasis on investing into more products or exploring new verticals. Though they will have to keep an eye out for Flutter.

Where it Leaves Other Operators

While these two operators own a massive share of the Italian market between them, the remaining 40+ brands are not obscure, smaller brands or lesser-known locals ones. Not by any stretch. One of the biggest iGaming sectors in Europe, Italy attracts many top tier online casino and sportsbook operators, including brands like:

• Entain (Bwin, Gioco Digitale)
• Evoke (888 brands)
• LeoVegas
• Bet365
• Eurobet Italia
• Admiral Bet
• William Hill
• Betsson Group

Around 30+ of the operators are Italian companies, while 10+ are foreign-owned gambling groups. The latter have either entered the country and obtained a license from scratch, or bought their way in by acquiring a local company. Buying into a country, by acquiring an already existing gambling firm and rebranding it or expanding it, seems to be the new trend for gambling operators breaking into European markets. It is a clever move that saves the company time obtaining permissions and setting up the infrastructure. Plus, they also instantly gain a foothold in the market, converting customers of the already existing company into their own ecosystem.

But the market is gradually becoming harder for the rest. Flutter is keen to catch up and potentially overtake Lottomatica for the majority market share in Italy. And as the Italian iGaming sector is only growing, it could become a very strong market for the future.

Italy’s iGaming Sector Continues to Grow

For Italy is already among the top iGaming countries in Europe. In 2024, the country generated around €21.5 billion in gross gambling revenue, and in 2025 it reported an 8% year on year growth. The gambling reforms have arguably set the stage for huge imminent growth, with zero tolerance for multiple domains operating under 1 license, and a hard stance on black market operators. Italy’s market is far from fully matured as well.

With a population of 60 million, high sports betting engagement, and a tech-savvy market that responds well to newer tech, Italy is hot territory for operators. That is, for operators who can afford it. Online casino gaming is on the up and up, and Flutter is taking the lead expanding into new verticals. It remains to be seen how players will react to these longterm, and whether or not the other operators will double down on Italy and fight for a larger market percentage. Also, there is the question of Italy’s black market, which soaks up billions every year. But compared to other European countries where overregulation hurts operators and hampers player engagement, Italy seems to have found the right balance.