Summary

The Italian esports sector is one of the most important esports markets in Europe, with a penetration rate of roughly one in every two Italian consumers (around 48%) between the ages of 16 and 65. Furthermore, in a European comparison, the Italian esports audience has one of the highest shares of regular users (just after Spain and Poland), with around 27% of consumers enjoying esports content at least once a week. The Italian esports ecosystem includes, among other things, esports-focused media and events agencies, as well as companies that sponsor esports events, games, or teams. Among the latter are organizations from the sports (primarily football teams), ICT, and consumer goods industries. Esports sponsorships enable businesses to reach a young, digitally native audience and make their brands more appealing to new audiences.

According to the research report "Italy eSports Market Overview, 2028," published by Bonafide Research, the market is expected to add USD 37.21 million by 2028.Streaming is expected to dominate the segment share during the forecast period. The growing emphasis on fan engagement is likely to fuel demand for live sports events. Furthermore, the rise in smartphone users is expected to fuel demand for live sports tournaments. Media rights are making a significant contribution to the country's esports industry. Fans can now track live esports activity across the country thanks to easy access to communication technology. Media companies pay exorbitant fees to win the exclusive right to broadcast live streaming of major sporting events. In recent years, the sale of broadcasting and media rights has been the most important source of revenue for most esports organizers.The revenue generated by the sale of media rights is used to fund major sporting events, renovate stadiums, and contribute to the grassroots development of esports. During the forecast period, sponsorship is expected to grow rapidly, followed by advertising. As the number of viewers grows, the sponsoring team invests in the platform to strengthen its brand image. Similarly, various gaming platforms include in-app advertisements to boost revenue generation.

There have been 1,281 Italian esports players that have been awarded a total of $5,473,978.06 USD in prize money across 2,030 tournaments. The highest awarding game was StarCraft II with $581,332.76 USD won, making up 10.62% of all earnings by Italian players. Riccardo "Reynor" Romiti is the highest-earning Italian player with $540,267.91 USD in prize money won overall, all of which was won from playing in StarCraft II tournaments. Some of the top esports games in Italy are StarCraft II, Fortnite, Magic: The Gathering Arena, Hearthstone, Call of Duty: Warzone, Rocket League, Painkiller, League of Legends, World of WarCraft, Quake Champions, and many more. There are some Esport Top Players are Riccardo Romiti, Andrea Mengucci, Alessandro Avallone, Ettore Giannuzzi, Francesco Cinquemani, Fabio Nardelli, Nicolò Maggi, Enzo Bonito, David Tonizza, Marco Ragusa and many more. There are some eSport Top Tournament are Mythic Invitational 2019, F1 Esports Pro Series 2019, F1 Esports Series 2021, PES 2017 World Finals, World Series Of Warzone (Season 2) - EU SoloYolo, WCS 2019 Global Finals, Brawl Stars World Finals 2021, IEM Season XVI - Katowice (SC2), Six Invitational 2021, FIFA eChampions League 2021 and many more.
Italy is now one of the biggest gambling markets in all of Europe. The country’s punters are blessed with a number of safe options for esports betting online, including some of the world’s best-known bookmakers. The top esports betting sites will have extensive odds on all of the major professional video games, including League of Legends, Dota 2, Fortnite and COD. The top betting sites for italy in 2023 include: Betonline, william hill, Leo Vegas, Unibet and many more.

COVID-19, as well as the increased time spent at home as a result, had a significant impact on the amount of time consumers spent on entertainment activities. During this time, the esports industry attracted a large number of newcomers, with around 54% of the Italian esports audience watching esports content for the first time following the implementation of COVID-19-related lockdowns in 2020.The most significant effect for the Italian market was observed among female consumers, for whom the penetration rate increased by more than 2.5 times (compared to little under two times for male consumers). This demonstrates that esports audiences are changing and that esports is transitioning from a small niche to a more popular entertainment medium.

Numerous factors, such as increased video game awareness and the popularity of Esport, are driving the country growth of the esports market. Long-term investment initiatives by large corporations, as well as an increase in the number of tournaments with large prize pools, create rewarding opportunities in the market during the forecast period. The growing use of smartphones in the world's developing economies is due to a variety of factors, including an increase in per capita income, affordability, multiple low-cost options with significant features, and many others. As the demand for esports events is increasing it will create lucrative opportunities for the Esport industry.

As the esports business is still in its early stages, both organisations and players confront a number of challenges. Many tournament participants and gamers have difficulty determining tournament legitimacy. With the increasing number of tournaments comes an increase in the number of scams and fraudsters, posing challenges for genuine and legitimate esports tournament organizers. The lack of standardization in the esports industry reflects the ongoing difficulties that players, tournaments, teams, and their advertising, sponsorships, or contracts face.

Considered in this report
• Geography: Italy
• Historic year: 2017
• Base year: 2022
• Estimated year: 2023
• Forecast year: 2028

Aspects covered in this report
• Italyesport market with its value and forecast along with its segments
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

By Revenue Streams:
• Sponsorship
• Media Rights
• Merchandise & Tickets
• Publisher Fees
• Digital
• Streaming

By Device Type:
• Mobile (Smartphone, Tablet)
• PC (Laptop, Desktop)
• Gaming Device (Console, Handheld Devices)
• Other (VR, Smart TV, etc.)

The approach of the report:
This report consists of a combined approach of primary as well as secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and list out the companies that are present in the market. The secondary research consists of third-party sources such as press releases, and annual reports of companies, analyzing the government-generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources primary research was conducted by making telephonic interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducting trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. Post this we have started doing primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting consumers into regional aspects, tier aspects, age groups, and gender. Once we have primary data with us we started verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.

Intended audience
This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations & organizations related to the esport industry, government bodies, and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.