The Sun is Rising in Portugal, According to First Full Year Figures

Portugal has generated promising numbers moving forward after completing its first year of regulation. 

Strong Full Year Figures

The total for the full year came in at €122.6m ($152.2m) for the small western European country’s first year of regulation, at an important time for iGaming.

Government Take

Of this total, national gambling regulator Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ) reported that the government took in €54.2m of this amount, primarily due to a 12% tax on sports betting turnover, a tax which many observers believe will have to be eased to make the model sufficiently attractive to a full range of operators.

Q4 Verticals 

Q4 contributed heavily to the boost with a record-setting performance bringing in all time quarterly high of €36.5m. The seven locally-licensed online gambling operators in Portugal brought in a near €10m year-on-year improvement from the same period last year and a €7m improvement over Q3 2017. Sports wagering further generated €20.5m in revenue for Q4, a 26% increase over Q3 2017 and a new quarterly record.

Sports Wager’s 2017 Leadership

Since launching its new, regulated online gambling market in May 2016, sports wagering has proven to be the main source of income for operators in Portugal. During 2017, revenue from the vertical reached €68.1m.

Other Verticals for the Year

Online casino including poker totalled €54.4m, with slots bringing in the largest contribution of the take at a 45% share. The contribution from Poker cash games was second at 19.7%; with French roulette third at 19.2%, blackjack at 9.2% and poker tournaments followed at 6.7%.

Welcoming Shared Liquidity

However, those trailing poker numbers are about to get a big boost from shared liquidity.

The Portugal market is effectively positioned to accelerate growth within the online poker market in the wake of the SRIJ’s recent approval of a model for shared liquidity of poker pools across borders, in a system that France and Spain are already a part of and Italy is scheduled to join soon as well.

Outlook

The fact that its worst-performing vertical has the most potential for immediate growth is a great sign for Portugal, meaning that quarterly numbers will likely be adjusting upward as soon as the next round of quarterly results are released.