Online gambling revenue increases in Spain

The local regulator revealed that online revenue increased 28 per cent during the first quarter of 2018.

Spain.- Spain’s gambling regulatory body, Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), revealed that the online gambling market has significantly increased their year-on-year revenue numbers during the first quarter of the year. The figures were especially boosted by online poker, which enjoyed its new shared liquidity pool.

Total online revenue stands at €163.3 million, which represents a 28 per cent rise from the same period in 2017. However, that number also represents a 5.7 per cent fall when compared to the last quarter of 2017. Sports betting totalled €81.7 million, slightly over half of the total revenue of the three month period, and was up 15.9 per cent but down 21.1 per cent from Q417.

Online casino revenue improved 51 per cent year-on-year to €56.5 million, and online slots claimed over half of the total. The second largest share of the online casino revenue comes from live roulette, which claims 21.1 per cent.

Online poker revenue totalled €21.5 million, with cash games increasing almost 30 per cent to €8.4 million. The sector got a significant increase from the launch of the shared poker liquidity between PokerStars’ Spanish and French licensed sited. Tournaments increased 50.2 per cent to more than €13 million while cash game spending rose 19 per cent.

Online poker numbers are getting close to the predictions made by Sacha Michaud, president of JDigital. The official had said that shared liquidity would allow poker get back to a double-digit growth in 2019, with approximately 20 to 30 per cent as other sectors have grown ever since the industry got regulated.