Portugal sets another new igaming revenue record in Q2
Portugal’s regulated online gambling market has broken its revenue record for the second consecutive quarter, with licenced operators generating a collective total of €48.3m (£44.0m/$53.3m) in the three months to June 30.
The figure surpassed the previous quarterly record of €47.3m, which was set in the first three months of the current year. Figures released by national regulator Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ) show that the Q2 total is up 29.5% on the same period last year.
At the halfway point of the year, Portugal has now generated more revenue than in the whole of 2018, with the €95.6m reported in the first and second quarter already some way ahead of last year’s overall total of €78.9m.
Online casino overtook sports betting as the main source of income for operators in Portugal during Q2, with the market generating €25.3m in revenue, up from €22.6m in the first quarter and €16.8m in Q2 of last year.
Consumers spent a total of €699.8m on online casino, with slots accounting for 67.03% of this figure. French roulette ranked second with a 13.49% share of the market, followed by blackjack on 8.08%.
However, poker continues to struggle in Portugal, with combined cash games and tournaments holding an online casino market share of 11.34%, down from 13.9% in Q1. Poker spending has now fallen for four consecutive quarters.
Meanwhile, sports betting revenue slipped from €24.8m in Q1 to €23.0m in the past three months, but this total was still 12.4% higher than in the same period last year. Sports betting spend stood at €112.1m for the quarter, down from €131.3m in the first three months of the year, but up on €89.8m in Q2 of 2018.
Football remains the most popular sport to bet on among Portuguese punters, with a market share of 71.41%. Tennis was second on 16.38%, followed by basketball with 7.50%.
New player registrations slipped 1.6% year-on-year to 102,200, also down from 125,200 in the first quarter. Consumers opting to self-exclude stood at 38,600 by the end of Q2, up from 24,600 last year and 35,400 in Q1.
The SRIJ issued 20 notices for operators without a permit to cease activities and shut down during Q2, and submitted 21 requests to internet service providers to block such websites.
Meanwhile, land-based gaming revenue was up 0.5% from €77.0m last year to €77.4m, despite a dip in poker and bingo revenue.
Similar to the country's igaming market, slots were the main source of income, generating €64.5m in revenue, up 0.7% on €64.0m last year. Table games revenue was also up 0.3% to €12.0m, but combined poker and bingo revenue fell 8.8% to €940,290.
Image: Edgar Jiménez