Portugal: record iGaming revenue in Q3
The iGaming segment in Portugal has experienced a significant increase in revenues when compared to the same period in 2018.
Portugal.- The online gaming sector in Portugal has once again proven that it is going through a great patch. The iGaming segment in Portugal managed to increase revenues by 39.1% when compared to the same quarter in 2018.
According to the local gambling regulator, Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ), the total revenue in the third quarter of 2019 was €54.1 million. This also represents a €6 million increase from the previous quarter when Portugal achieved €48.3 million.
Online gambling tax totalled €23.6 million in the third quarter, representing a €6.5 million increase from 2018. Online sports betting generated revenue of €25.9 million in the third quarter, or a €6.4 million increase from 2018. Sports betting handle was €114 million, a slight increase from the second quarter.
Casino revenue rose to €28.2 million from €25.3 million in the second quarter and €19.6 in the third quarter of 2018. Casino spending totalled €741.5 million.
Illegal gambling prevails in Portugal
The Portuguese Association of Online Gambling and Betting (APAJO) has released a new poll that shows that more than half of online gambling is done through illegal sites. The survey indicates that 56% of nationally registered players bet through licenced and unlicensed online gambling sites. But of these, only 6% bet exclusively through illegal websites and 44% do it on licensed sites.
The recent survey, commissioned by APAJO from AXIMAGEM, included 609 effective interviews through which it was found that about 94% of registered players had already played for money in 2019.
42% of the registrations were done before 2016 when the regulation of the sector came into force, APAJO said. The remaining 58% happened between 2016 and 2019, with 20% happening in 2018. In 2019, among consumers registered only between January and June, almost 70% were registered only on licenced platforms.
