Denmark’s regulated gambling market came close to a new revenue record in the third quarter of 2018 despite land-based gaming posting record low returns.
Figures released Wednesday by Denmark’s Spillemyndigheden regulatory agency show overall gaming revenue hitting DKK1.624b (US$247m) in the three months ending September 30, a significant improvement from the DKK1.48b in the same period last year but just under the DKK1.63b reported in Q2 2018.
The gains largely came courtesy of online casino revenue, which hit DKK544.7m in Q3, up 20% year-on-year and a new high-water mark since the market’s liberalization in 2012. Slots claimed a 63.1% share of the online casino market, followed by roulette (14%) and blackjack (11.7%).
The online casino segment includes ‘multi-player commission games’, which contributed DKK35.9m to Q3’s casino total. Since January, this category includes not only poker but also bingo, which accounted for DKK10.6m in Q3, down from DKK12.2m in Q2 and DKK15m in Q1. Poker revenue was DKK25.3m, a modest DKK300k improvement over Q2.
Danish online casino customers continue to do most of their activity via traditional websites, although mobile’s share of this pie continues to rise. Mobile’s share of online casino revenue was 32.5% in September 2018, up 2.5 points from October 2017.
Shifting to wagering, combined online and land-based revenue hit DKK655.3m, a modest 0.8% gain from Q2 but a 13.5% year-on-year rise. However, Spillemyndigheden began including horse race betting in this category as of Q2, and Q3 also contained the second half of the FIFA World Cup, which accounts for much of the year-on-year improvement.
Mobile channels claimed more than half (50.4%) of wagering revenue and a slightly higher (54.1%) share of betting stakes, although its share of individual wagers was only around one-quarter. Desktop claimed a 15.6% share of revenue and a 22.8% share of stakes. Land-based betting channels had a one-third stake of revenue but over half of all individual wagers.
Land-based gaming machine revenue was down 6.5% year-on-year to DKK344.6m, a new record low. Machine revenue was down for both the restaurant and arcade segments. The country’s seven land-based casinos were hit even harder, as their revenue fell 14% year-on-year to DKK81.8m, a low point not seen since Q1 2014’s DKK74.7m.
At the end of Q3, there were 16,369 individuals who’d voluntarily excluded themselves from gambling via the country’s ROFUS responsible gambling program. That’s 4,621 more than had signed up at the same point last year, and the total grew to 16,704 by the end of October.
