Spain’s regulated online gambling market reported revenue rising nearly one-third in Q1 following last summer’s legalization of online slots play.
According to figures released this week by the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), gross gaming revenue in the three months ending March 31 totaled €102.3m, up nearly 8% from Q4 2015 and up a whopping 32.1% from the same period last year.
Sports betting continued to dominate the market, capturing 50% of all online turnover and 57.3% of all revenue. Betting stakes were up 33% year-on-year to €1.33b while revenue improved 29% to €58.6m.
Pre-match betting accounted for 29% of online sports stakes while live in-play wagers claimed 71%. Betting revenue was more evenly split (pre-match 41%, live betting 59%). Exchange wagering, which was approved last summer along with slots, garnered stakes of €7.5m.
The casino vertical enjoyed serious gains, with stakes rising 90% to €899m and revenue up 104% to €25m. Much of this boost came courtesy of the newly authorized online slots, which generated stakes of €247.7m and revenue of €9.5m, the latter figure up 12% from Q4 2015. The other authorized casino products appear to have enjoyed a spillover from slots players, with roulette (live and conventional) stakes up 42.3% and blackjack up 27%.
Poker continued its role as the ugly duckling of European regulated markets, with revenue down 12% year-on-year to €14.8m, split evenly between cash games and tournament. Overall poker stakes fell 18.2% to €411m, with cash games off 19% and tournament fees down a mere 16%. Basically, liquidity sharing with France can’t come soon enough.
Bingo managed to pull off some healthy gains, with stakes up 10.3% to €18.9m and revenue rising 9.8% to €2.2m.
Spanish-licensed online operators spent €32.7m on advertising during Q1, a 46% increase from Q1 2015. All this shilling appears to have paid off, as the categories of active users and total deposits were each up 40% to 550K and €271m, respectively.
