Denmark’s regulated gambling market closed out 2015 on a high note, with significant growth in licensed online gambling operator revenue.
Figures released this week by Danish gaming regulator Spillemyndigheden showed combined sports betting and online gambling revenue rising 21% to DKK 910m (US $134.4m) in the three months ending Dec. 31, 2015. Spillemyndigheden started 2016 with 15 licensed betting operators and 35 licensed online casinos.
Betting was both the largest vertical and Q4’s biggest gainer, rising nearly 32% to DKK 560m. For the year as a whole, betting revenue improved 14% to DKK2.03b.
Sadly, Spillemyndigheden doesn’t break out separate numbers for online and land-based wagering. Regardless, the betting market picked up speed throughout the year, having posted average quarterly growth of between 5-10% over the first nine months of 2015.
Online casino revenue was up 25% year-on-year to DKK 350m, marking the fourth consecutive quarter that the casino vertical has risen by at least 20%, compared to average quarterly growth of around 10% in 2014.
By contrast, the lifeless online poker vertical mirrored the global market by reporting DKK 40m, flat year-on-year and having shown no movement in any direction for the final nine months of the year. Poker’s total revenue for 2015 was down 25% from its DKK 220m peak in 2012, the year the regulated market launched.
The approximately 25,500 gaming machines in Danish halls and restaurants reported revenue of DKK 385m in Q4. While this number improved by only 2% from Q4 2015. It extended the vertical’s growth streak to four quarters. Total machine revenue through 2015 was DKK 1.55b, up around 3% from 2014.
Revenue at Denmark’s seven licensed casinos fell 6% to DKK 80m in Q4, although the total for 2015 rose nearly 5% to DKK 340m.
The nation’s total gambling market is expected to rise nearly 8% to DKK 8.35b, while spending per adult Dane is up 8.5% to DKK 1,900 ($281).
