Portugal celebrates iGaming rise
The Portuguese online gaming sector completes its first year of legal operations.
Portugal.- Just one year after the legalisation of online gaming in the Portuguese market, national authorities celebrated positive results. As revealed in an official report released last week by Portugal iGaming authorities, the industry reached €122.6 million (US$152.2 million) during the first year of legal operations.
“Since launching its new, regulated online gambling market in May 2016, sports wagering has proven to be the main source of income for operators in Portugal. During 2017, revenue from the vertical reached €68.1 million,” revealed Online Casino Reports.
Portuguese gaming authority, Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ), has obtained €54.2 million of the total amount, primarily due to a 12 per cent tax on sports betting turnover. The government expects further funding as they have recently regulated the online poker sector with a shared liquidity agreement between Portugal, Spain, Italy and France.
The market growth has been driven by a hike in sports betting activity. The gaming entity is preparing a proposal to for the European Commission in order to establish economic conditions for the online poker operations. Portugal is joining the proceedings of other countries in the continent which are trying to clarify the rules for the gaming industry.
