Online Gambling in Spain Shows Declining Results in Q4 2019

Spain has recorded some modest results in online gambling revenues during the last quarter of 2019. This period saw the increase of just one gaming option: casino games.

Spain’s Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) has just released the report on generated revenues. According to the statement, Spanish-licensed online betting providers recorded an overall revenue of €188.5m in Q4, a 2% fall from the final quarter of 2018 and a 3.2% drop from Q3 2019.

If we take a look at sports betting income, it marked 10.2% year-on-year decline to €90m in Q4. The declining results have also been experienced with poker and bingo chances while online casino revenues rose 11.7% to €72.3m.

The sportsbook industry has made modest results due to a lack of interest. It resulted in the decline of betting turnover for 9% year-on-year to €1.85b. At the same time, In-play turnover was fallen nearly 22% year-on-year and pre-match gambling climbed 23.6% to €663.3m.

The only vertical which has recorded the positive results was the online casino. The last quarter of 2019 saw online casino jumping of 14.4% to €2.53b, slot increase of 17.6% to €1.13b and live roulette increase of 36% to €779.5m. Regarding the traditional options like roulette and blackjack, both recorded s significant decline of 4% 14.2% respectively.

Online poker is another casino vertical which recorded a significant drop in Q4 2019. However, the game has been saved by regular tournament events which contributed to the overall increase of entry fees to €262.6m.

If we consider results for the entire year, we can see the total increase in online gambling revenues of 7.1% to €748.5m. At the same time, poker fell around €500k to €81.3m and bingo dropped 9.7% to €12.1m.

It is important to notice that Spain has recorded an increase in the number of newly registered accounts. Only in Q4, the country has registered 301k new accounts which are 17.7% more than the year before. At the same time, the number of active accounts climbed 13.3% to 973k. The increase has also been performed in advertising, affiliate spending and sponsorship fees.

However, all these numbers are set to change with the implementation of new advertising restrictions. The proposal of Spain’s Minister of Consumer Affairs Alberto Garzón has already been unveiled and we wait to see the outcome. It is expected that the new rules will prohibit about 80% of current online gambling options. Garzon will also have a meeting with Google to bring decisions about the limitation of citizens’ exposure to gambling ads. 

The problems with the gambling sector didn’t influence the sector that much and DGOJ has granted licenses to new providers involving Casumo, Eurasia Solutions, Genting, Rabbit Entertainment, Sisal, Skill on Net and 1xBet.

Source: Stradbrooke, Steven. „Spain’s online gambling market suffers a slowdown in Q4“. Calvin Ayre. February 28, 2020.