"Sisal big tech in the country. The new bet? It's the tender for the Lotto"

Sisal is taking the field and betting on the next Lotto bid. On the strength of the idea that the oldest of the four big national lottery, gaming and online betting concessionaires - born 70 years ago from the idea of three sports journalists to finance the reconstruction of stadiums in the post-war period - is above all today 'one of the largest technology companies in the country', explains its CEO Francesco Durante. That in addition to Superenalotto and slot machines, it invests in AI, patents in-house software, not only to create new app-based gaming models and enhance the gaming experience, but also to profile customers at risk of addiction and manage - again by means of tenders - networks and platforms also from foreign countries.

"Globally, the global regulated gaming market is worth around 462 billion in regulated markets," Durante explains, "but Italy is the European country with the largest turnover (Ggr, gross gaming revenue, the largest expenditure net of winnings) of 21 billion in 2023, over six billion from lotteries, three billion from betting and over 11 billion from gaming. In practice, 1% of the national GDP. For the Mef, a tax revenue of over 10 billion euro last year and an online penetration from 5% in 2016 to 21% in 2023. And we estimate it will reach 23% this year, with a further growth of around 10% in the coming years. In line with the world average (around 20%) but still below the European average of 35%. In Italy, the habit of traditional lotteries and the capillarity of ticket offices and tobacconists prevail".

In August 2022 Sisal was acquired, for about 2 billion, by the Anglo-Irish giant Flutter Entertainment plc - now listed on Wall Street - the world's largest online sports betting and iGaming operator, with 14 billion in revenues and over 40 billion in capitalisation. The same one that in August also bought Snaitech for 2.3 billion (completion is expected in early 2025).

"We were acquired by Flutter," Durante continued, "because we had become brand leader on the digital channel in Italy. And it gave a further boost to our investments. Our gaming apps have seen over 5 million downloads. Our site is ranked 17th in e-commerce. Turnover grew by 11% in 2023 and 12% in H1 2024 (over the same period before). We have technology hubs in Naples and Palermo, research collaborations with the Psychology Department of the Catholic University of Milan, and an innovation hub in Turin. We obtained the patent, for Italy, for the 'Responsible Gaming' methodology for the automatic recognition and mitigation of risky gaming behaviour from the Uibm (Italian Patent and Trademark Office). The system involves the integrated use of: a representative dataset of a player's gaming transactions over a specific period, a behavioural analysis, an artificial intelligence algorithm and the activation of one or more specific mitigation actions identified with the support of experts. This approach allows us to intervene proactively and preventively, guaranteeing players a sustainable gaming experience over time and without excesses". Internationalisation has also benefited. Already the concessionaire of the lotteries of Morocco (from 2019), Turkey (2020) and the monopoly of the Moroccan betting (also from January 2024), 'we await the outcome of the tender for the management of the national lottery of South Africa'.

The next challenge is the Lotto. "The final go-ahead for the call for tenders from the Council of State," Durante goes on to explain, "is expected in November. The procedures managed by Adm are expected to take place in the first months of 2025, so that the new operator can become fully operational as of 1 December 2025. We want to participate because it is a great opportunity for Sisal and the Flutter group. It is the biggest tender at the European level, it is worth eight billion in collection (with 1.2 billion in tax revenue) and the auction base starts at one billion"..