Belgian gambling revenue up 16.7 per cent

Gross gambling revenue reached €1.7bn in 2023.

Belgium.- The Belgian gambling regulator, the Commission des Jeux de Hasard (CJH), has reported that gross gaming revenue (GGR) reached €1.7bn in the country in 2023 . That’s a rise of 16.7 per cent from the previous year. Online GGR was up 18 per cent at €944.6m, while offline GGR rose 15.2 per cent to €758m.

Casino GGR was up 18.7 per cent at €594.9m. The online segment represented the majority, rising 20.2 per cent to €455m. The country’s nine land-based casinos generated €139.9m, up 14.3 per cent. Casinos Austria International’s Grand Casino Brussels led the land-based segment with GGR of €52.5m. Circus Casino Resort Namur followed with €22.5m. Only Kindred’s Casino Blankenberge saw revenue decline.

In the online segment, three operators saw GGR fall, including Middelkerke Casino, which didn’t have an active licence during the year. Betsson’s Betfirst has since launched online casino at Middelkerke Casino in a deal with Groupe Partouche.

Elsewhere, slot arcade GGR rose 17.3 per cent to €437m. Online operations made up 57.7 per cent of the segment’s revenue, up 19.4 per cent to €252m. In-person GGR was up 14.5 per cent at €184.9m.

The sports betting sector didn’t grow as much as casino, but GGR was still up by 8.4 per cent at €390m. Online GGR accounted for 60.9 per cent of that, rising by 12.8 per cent to €237.6m. Betting shop GGR was up just 2.3 per cent at €152.4m. The regulator said that ten of the 24 licensed operators accounted for 96 per cent of offline bets. Football was again the most popular sport for betting, representing 77.1 per cent of all betting GGR.

The rise in all casino segments came despite increased restrictions, including a ban on all gambling advertising from July 2023 and a lower €200 weekly loss limit. That appears not to have had a major impact on the industry as a whole, but limits on newsagents’ betting hours saw newsagent GGR fall 26.3 per cent.

Some 82 licence holders opted not to request a renewal and 151 stopped activities, resulting in the number of newsagent licensees falling from 1,580 to 1484. More changes are scheduled for this year, with the minimum age for gambling in Belgium to rise from 18 to 21 from September 1.