Portugal’s online gambling market grows in Q1
Online gambling operators generated €33.8 million in revenue during the first quarter of the year.
Portugal.- The Portuguese regulatory body, Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ), reported that the seven licenced online operators generated revenue of €33.8 million during the first quarter of 2018, ending March 31st.
The online gambling market has achieved a year-on-year boost in the Portuguese market, which completed its first year of legal operations in 2017. The first three months of 2018 saw online gambling operators generate €33.8 million, which is €2.5 million higher than the same period in 2017. However, the number is €2.7 million lower than the previous quarter (17Q4).
Online sportsbooks finished the first quarter with flat results, as they generated €17.4 million, but approximately €3 less than the fourth quarter of 2017. The most popular sport continues to be football, as it accounted for over three-quarters of the total betting turnover, followed by basketball and tennis, with 10.6 per cent and 9.6 per cent of the market respectively.
Moreover, online casino totalled €16.4 million in revenue, which represents an increase of 18 per cent year-on-year. Last year, SRIJ issued three casino licences, which helped the casino vertical achieve good results during 1Q18. Slots totalled 55.7 per cent of casino revenue, and even though poker was the second top scorer, it achieved the 18.6 per cent of the revenue.
The Portuguese online market also reported 89,300 new players during the first quarter, approximately 22,600 less than those that signed up during the same period last year. The number of total registrations increased to 890k.
