Italy's mid-December announcement as to who would be disbursed their sought after gaming licenses did not come as a big surprise to gaming industry analysts. As published in a report prepared by the Official Gazette of Italy in mid-December, the winning bidders of Italy's new gambling licenses were (in order of licenses obtained) Lottomatica Italy, Intralot Greece, Gala Coral, Ladbrokes and William Hill.

Lottomatica obtained some 1,114 betting licenses, comprised of five-hundred horse betting rights and practically half of the available licenses used to operate betting shops in Italy's main towns and cities. Licensing allowances will not expire until December of 2015 (nine years), which means that Lottomatica will be the leading provider of corner sports betting shops under the terms of "corner" distribution. The leadership position given Lottomatica is the most the company has ever been afforded within Italy, which Managing Director, Maco Sala, says is keeping in line with the company's "top expectations" and commitment to be a leader in the Italian betting sector.

Intralot was deemed to be the most important international provider of sports betting services in Italy having been awarded 33% of the licenses for the highly contested sports betting Points of Sale. In total, Intralot was disbursed 416 of the 1,278 licenses, as well as 164 licenses for non-exclusive corner distribution Points of Sale, and nine horserace betting Points of Sale licenses. Intralot has agreed upon an international tender to help expand Italy's betting sector, which they will most certainly help do, being the largest sports betting company (in terms of annual gambling revenues) in the World.

Ladbrokes was able to secure a decent amount of licenses following their entrance into the Italian betting market in November. On top of their prior three licenses to operate betting centers in Turin, Ladbrokes was awarded 33 dedicated horseracing licenses, 58 dedicated sports betting licenses, and 51 non-dedicated sports betting licenses, which will allow Ladbrokes to offer sports betting services through Italian retail agents, such as bars and cafes.

UK online gaming giant, William Hill, received the fewest licenses, coming in at around 100, while Gala Coral Group was the third largest recipient, bestowed with 403 betting licenses at a cost of approximately $60 million. A small price tag to say the least, the Italian sports betting market and horse racing industry are both currently valued at €2 billion each - which is expected to double over the next couple of years - while Italy's entire gambling sector (including casino gambling) is valued around €28 billion.