Interactive

Spain – Online gaming increasing in Spain

By Phil - 10 March 2014

Play in Spain’s online gaming sector increased by 8.3 per cent in the final quarter of 2013 although revenues dipped by 2.5 per cent, according to the General Directorate of Gaming.

For the entire fourth quarter, revenue came in at €1,472m, marking a 13.9 per cent increase from the previous quarter.

The total number of registered online players also increased in the fourth quarter by 9.4 per cent taking the total to over 1.5m. Sports betting led the way, accounting for 48.9 of the revenue followed by poker with 38.3 per cent, casino games at 14.2 per cent and online bingo at 3.6 per cent.

The sector will receive a further boost from the introduction of online slots. Applications for general licences will be re-opened, prompting new companies to enter the Spanish market for the first time since the market’s debut in June 2012.

“We look forward to working with the newly-licensed operators in Spain, and to providing current operators with technical compliance services that include online slot machines at no extra cost.”

The move to bring slots online has been slammed by the Spanish Gaming Business Council (CEJUEGO), an association made up of land-based operators, who warned the move will damage the country’s land-based slots sector.

CEJUEGO is comprised of Grupo Acrismatic, CIRSA, Codere, Catalonia’s CONEI Corporation, Malaga-based Grupo R. Franco, EGASA and Grupo Diaz Carbajosa, which together account for more than two-thirds of Spanish income and employment tax revenue from the gaming sector.

CEJUEGO said that if the bill becomes law, it would ‘adversely affect the gaming industry as a whole.’