Denmark Revenue Jumps in Q4, and the Ceiling is Rising
Published March 18, 2018 by Lee R
Online gaming is driving gaming revenue growth in Denmark after Q4.
Denmark has show steady growth from Q4 2017 data returns.
Overall Growth
According to Danish national regulator Spillemyndigheden, Q4 gambling revenue in 2017 rose 6.9%.
Casino Vertical Leaps
Online casino revenue including poker jumped 16.7% year-on-year 5% from Q3 2017, reaching approximately $3.79 million (DKK22.8 million).
Sports Betting Gains
Sports betting also kicked in leaps of 29% year-on-year and 23.8% from Q3.
Decline on Land
Land-based operations told a different story. The seven land-based casinos in Denmark reported revenue declines, at 3.3% year-on-year for Q4 and a relatively steep 4.4% drop from the third quarter.
Examples
A further stratification of these numbers reveals that arcade and restaurant gaming machine profits dropped 2.5% from the third quarter for a loss of $1.33 million (DKK8 million).
Outlook
Overall Denmark’s gaming industry has enjoyed a 21.7% increase since 2014. The revenue shift is impacted by the shift in gaming policy in Denmark in recent years.
Areas Set to Grow
The lottery appears to be an area where more growth can be achieved in overall gaming revenues for Denmark. The relatively liberal country has yet to release its hold on the lottery, whose operations remain state-run under the auspices of Danske Spil. To this point, lotteries have raised over $515 billion (DKK3.1 billion) in revenue.
The DGA has liberalized regulation on other specialty sports betting activity such as horse, dog and pigeon racing, as well as bingo, offering new avenues for expansion of overall revenue.
Historical Reform
The inception of the liberal approach in Denmark dates to 2012, when the Danish authority reduced licensing renewal fees and established the first program for annual licensing of daily fantasy sports DFS.
Assessing the Growth
All indications moving forward point to an open policy in Denmark towards regulation adaptation to expand revenues for iGaming. Land-based operations may just be sagging because it is so much easier and cheaper for Denmark players to go online and access the increased wager opportunities available.
Forecast in Denmark
Whether investment in land-based operations will improve revenues or increase losses is hard to gauge at this point: it remains to be seen whether Denmark will just take the hit for land-based operations and hope for the best or reinvest. The success of iGaming, which has lower overhead, will likely be the key determinate.
