Interactive
Portugal – Portugal’s online gambling sector shows steady growth
By Phil - 28 August 2018
According to new figures published by the regulatory body Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ) gross revenues for the online gambling market in Portugal for the second quarter stood at €37.3m – an increase of almost €12m compared to the same period in 2017.
Tax gaming revenue increased in the same period by €3.6m and stood at €16.9m. On June 30th there were eight licence holders, three more than those authorised in the same period in 2017. Combined these companies now own 13 licenses: six sports betting licences, and seven licenses for the running of casino games.
Gross income for online sports betting companies stood at €20.5m. After the granting of three other licenses, the online sports betting industry recorded an increase of €6.6m according to the SRIJ.
On a monthly basis, gross revenue for sports betting reached €7.9m in April, followed by a decrease of approximately €2.3m in the following month. In June (the month of The World Cup), sports betting revenues increased by as much as €7m. Football betting for the quarter amounted to 74.4 per cent of the total. Tennis came in second place with 14.2 per cent followed by basketball with 7.2 per cent.
Gross income obtained by operators increased by €5.4m and stood at €16.8m. Online slots bets accounted for over half of all gambling (55.4 per cent).
Player demographics remained practically unchanged. Players aged between 25 and 44 accounted for 61.8 per cent of all registered players, with the predominant group being aged between 25 to 34 (39 per cent). For the same period, individuals between the ages of 18 and 24 accounted for 26.2 per cent of the total of registered players.
Meanwhile, the board continued with its crackdown on unlicensed off shore gambling sites. Up to June 30, 2018, a total of 302 operators were served notice that they were to cease their activities in Portugal and 237 notifications were sent to ISPs to proceed with the blocking of Internet sites belonging to unlicensed operators, which despite having been notified by the SRIJ to cease their activities, still continued to make their services available in Portugal. At the same time, eleven motions were made to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the purpose of initiating proceedings against unlicensed operators.
The Government approved rules for online gambling and betting on April 29, 2015 but the new law imposed a tax of between 15 and 30 per cent for casino operators and 8 and 16 per cent for sports betting operators. Despite the high tax rate earlier this month Luckia announced that it had been granted a license to operate in the online gaming market. The Spanish gaming group, which reported a turnover of €506m at the end of the last year, will launch in the Portuguese online market in September as part of its larger expansion strategy.
