Expanded online casino options drove double-digit gains in Spain’s regulated online gambling market in the third quarter of 2016.
Figures released Tuesday by Spanish gaming regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) show gross gaming revenue of €103m in the three months ending September 30, up 4% sequentially and up 22.2% from the same quarter last year.
The sequential gains are impressive given that total online gambling turnover and customer deposits fell 5.6% and 2.4%, respectively, from Q2, although both figures posted strong double-digit year-on-year gains. Q3’s number of active registered users soared nearly 90% from last year, while new users registered during Q3 rose 81%.
Q3’s revenue gains were driven by a strong showing in the online casino vertical, which gained 56.7% to €28.4m thanks to the addition of online slots in Q2 2015. Slots accounted for €13.8m, roulette contributed €10.6m – nearly half of which was live roulette, which rose 90.4% year-on-year – and blackjack added €4m.
Sports betting revenue rose 15% year-on-year to €56.8m as turnover improved 19%. In-play betting accounted for 73.4% of sports wagers and 53.2% of sports revenue. The nascent exchange betting sector remains a tiny slice of the overall betting pie, with turnover up 1.8% to €20.8m and revenue of just €120k (+0.2%).
Poker continued to spoil the party, falling 4.3% to €13.8m, although this represented a 0.3% gain on Q2’s number. Cash game stakes and revenue were each down 9.7% while tournament revenue rose 0.85% despite total entry fees falling 8.6%.
Further emphasizing poker’s inability to build its audience and market share, bingo revenue jumped nearly 22% to €2.2m and ‘contests’ improved 23.3% to €1.7m.
Advertising spending by Spanish-licensed operators hit €19.7m in Q3, up 9.3% year-on-year but down more than one-third from Q2 as operators relaxed their furious Euro 2016 marketing campaigns. Affiliate spending totaled €4.8m, up 9.4% sequentially and 41.3% higher year-on-year.
