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.