Spain’s regulated online gambling market contracted in Q2 as all verticals except casino suffered revenue declines.
According to figures released by the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), Spanish-licensed online gambling operator revenue fell 6.3% year-on-year to €66.7m in the three months ending June 30 despite a 29% gain in gambling turnover.
The dominant sports betting vertical saw stakes rise 51% to €1.01b but punter-friendly results pushed sports revenue down 2.3% to €31.1m. Pre-match wagering revenue was down 3.8% and its share of the total sports pie fell to 25.3%. Live betting’s share rose to 71.7% (€22.3m) while horseracing contributed a mere 2.7%.
Poker’s popularity continued to erode, with revenue down 6.6% to €14.4m. While tournament revenue improved 35% to €7.1m, cash games fell 28% to €7.3m. Bingo mirrored poker’s decline, falling to €1.85m while the ‘contests’ segment fell 11.7% to just €800k.
The casino vertical saw turnover rise nearly 62% thanks to the belated introduction of online slots play. Total casino revenue hit €14.6m, up 59.1%, with slots play contributing €1.2m to the total, which is pretty respectable considering the product was only made available in the final month of Q2. Roulette remained the casino king at €6.2m, followed by blackjack (€4.2m) and live roulette (€3m.).
The overall online market enjoyed a 22.5% rise in customer deposits despite operators spending 19% less on “advertising, sponsorship and promoting” and 10.2% less on affiliates. But bonus offers leaped 89% as operators attempted to compensate for a lack of a marquee football tournament after last year’s FIFA World Cup.
