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Still loving those VLTs
If 2010 was the year of the Italian video lottery terminal (VLT) revolution, perhaps 2011 will be the year of....the Italian VLT revolution, continued.
True, many operators and their suppliers are now looking to Greece as the next big market for VLTs (see box). But the pace of activity in Italy continues to be frenetic.
Among the latest developments:
Adria Gaming, the Italian arm of Austria's Novomatic, now has long-term contracts to supply eight out of the ten Italian operators, or 22,000 units altogether. It will be hoping that this positions it not only to make a healthy profit out of Italy, but to be the obvious first-call supplier for the Greek operators when they come on stream.
Azzurro Gaming, a joint venture of Casinos Austria International (with 75 percent ownership) and Cogetech, has opened the first of its Vincendo-branded "mini casinos" in Milan. With just 1000 square metres of gaming floor, it was finished in less than 90 days at a cost of around €1m, and offers 100 VLT slots.
Azzurro's plans, though, are much more ambitious: it intends, over the next two years, to roll out 1800 VLTs in a series of venues between Rome and Italy's northern borders, each with 50 to 150 units. With low staffing levels (the Milan site has 15), bars and lounges, it's likely they'll offer a casino-lite experience while, of course, not requiring a casino licence.
And there's more. Lottomatica has signed a deal to provide more VLTs to the BetterSlot circuit, and Inspired Gaming Group, while not quite having Novomatic's market penetration, now has contracts with four of the ten VLT operators under its local joint venture with Merkur. Latest to sign up is HBG.
