The Situation in Spain: Online Casinos Take Top Spot From Bookmakers
Published November 5, 2020 by Sol FH
Spain's online casino industry has taken over the top-spot from sports betting during the Pandemic.
Spain is a big sports nation, with soccer being the national pastime and for years, sports betting was on top of the regulated gambling industry. That has all changed since the Coronavirus pandemic hit in the second quarter of 2020 and sports were abruptly stopped all over the globe. This brought Spain's online betting to a halt.
Last week, Spain's Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) regulatory body presented a report that shows online casino operators working from Spain to have generated revenue of €208.5m from April until June 30, an increase of 17.7% from the same time last year, but still down 4.2% from the first quarter of 2020.
Online sports betting was dominant in Q1, earning €68.1m, down 20.8% year-on-year. There was really nothing the market could've done with no sports to bet on, but, where sports betting fell, online casino play skyrocketed.
Online casino play increased 45% to €93.5m, with online slots leading the pack growing a bit slower than other games, but, still ahead of the rest at €51.9m, +30.4%. It was the classic online casino games roulette, blackjack, and baccarat, which had the greatest gains. Live roulette jumped to €27m, while classic online roulette hit only €8m. Blackjack went up 10.8% and hit €6.6m, while baccarat rose an outstanding 187.3% to €3m.
Online poker operators were also up, with revenue reaching 18.3% to €38.2m. Tournament poker doubled to €25.6m, while cash game revenue rose three-quarters to €12.6m.
Casino spending peaked in May but started to decline over the summer months.
When the La Liga and other international sports leagues began to get back to business-as-usual, albeit with matches being played behind closed stadium doors, sports gambling began to rise again. It was definitely a good time for online casinos in Spain, but sports gambling will take over once again.
