Online revenue in Spain up in 1Q19
Sports betting was one of the contributors to online gross gaming revenue increasing 20% year-on-year to €193.2 million in Spain.
Spain.- According to La Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), the local gambling regulator, online gross gaming revenue (GGR) increased 20% year-on-year to €193.2 million in Spain. Sports betting and casino performances boosted these figures.
GGR from sports betting operations rose 26% year-on-year in the first quarter and 0.63% from the previous quarter, ended December 31, 2018. The 26% increase translates into €100.8 million for the three-month period. Live betting helped with these results as well, as it increased 11% from the previous quarter.
The €67.1 million in GGR from casinos represents 35% of the online market during the first quarter of the year. That specific segment posted an increase of 20% year-on-year and 3.7% from the previous quarter.
On the other hand, poker experienced a decline in GGR of 1.4% year-on-year to €21.2 million. The bingo market also posted a year-on-year fall of 8.6% to €3.2 million. The first segment features nine operators, while the second is available with four.
Furthermore, DGOJ said that marketing spend in 1Q was €92.2 million, or a 22% year-on-year hike. Of that number, €47.8 million was on advertising, €29.3 on promotions, €10.2 million on affiliates and €4.8 million on sponsorship. The increase in spending helped boost player growth, as average monthly active accounts rose 13.1% year-on-year to 900,513.
Spain is set to improve its online gambling control system
The DGOJ has recently revealed that it will implement new technologies for the online gambling industry: a new alert will be installed to control identity impersonation. With the “phishing alert”, DGOJ will avoid the underaged and self-excluded gamblers to access to online platforms with fake IDs. That way, they’ll enhance restrictions, as demanded by different segments of society and political parties.
DGOJ’s head, Juan Espinosa, explained they seek to eradicate the “wrongful impression that people that must not enter Spain’s online gambling environments keep doing so.”
