Portugal Turns in a Solid Q3; More Growth Beckons
Published January 5, 2020 by Lee R
Record growth in Portugal is becoming commonplace, to the delight of the market.
Portugal has turned in record growth for a smashing seventh quarter in a row.
Thanks to Casino and Sports
Portuguese gambling regulator Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ) attributes the figures to casino and sports betting growth.
Totals
Q3's total of €54.1m (£45.2m/$60.3m) is up from Q2's €48.3m and good for a 39.1% year-on-year rise. At Q3's end, 11 organisations with 18 licences at September's end in Portugal represented a huge rise from the two operators in the corresponding period in 2018.
Online Play
Online gambling tax IEJO raised for Q3 totaled €23.6m, a €6.4m year-on-year jump.
Casino revenue rose from €25.3m to €28.2m sequentially for Q3, for a year on year Q3 increase of €8.8m.
Sports Betting
Online sports betting in Portugal rose as well, to €25.9m for Q3-- a year-on-year jump of €6.4m and sequential rise from Q2's €23m.
Total spend on sports betting for the period reached €114m in Q3 for a slight jump from Q2's €112.1m, though short of the record total of €131.3m posted Q1, with over three-quarters all wagers placed on football (77.53%).
Casinos
Casinos achieved a substantial spike in Portugal for Q3 as well, rising from €699.8m in Q2 to €741.5m in Q3.
New Playership
New players continued to rise as well, indicating the Portugal market is slated to keep rising. The sequential increased in newly registered online gamblers grew to a record total of 149,000, rising almost 50% from Q2's 102,200, with a total of 354,100 people placing bets online for the quarter.
Unlicensed Play
Even in light of these key statistics, gross gambling figures across Portugal’s unlicensed as well as registered websites are estimated to be substantially higher. The scale of activity and potential for growth of the regulated market is visible in studies such as the October survey commissioned by the Portuguese Association of Online Gambling and Gambling (APAJO): the study revealed that 56% of gamblers in Portugal are betting with unlicensed as well as licensed operators three years clear of the introduction of legal online gambling.
Growth Outlook
While these figure might seem disturbing at first, they ultimately indicate optimistic and tangible room for growth in a market that is still undergoing the transition from illegal to fully legal play.
