The information released by the Serviço Regulação e Inspeção
de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ) shows that the Q3 total is 15.6% greater
than the €25.4m the market generated in Q2 2017, which represented the first
sequential revenue decline since Portugal launched its regulated market in June
2016.
The Q3 figure is also 21.5% higher than the €24.1m the market reported in Q3
2016, its first full quarter of operations.
For the first nine months of 2017, total online gambling revenue stands at €86.3m, of which the government’s share came to €24.5m. Sports betting accounted for €47.7m of this total, representing roughly 55% of the overall market, with online casino (including online poker) contributed €38.4m.
Q3’s sports betting revenue hit €16.3m, a 16.6% improvement over Q2’s figure. Sports betting had suffered two straight quarters of sequential revenue declines, but the return of football – which accounted for nearly 78% of online sports wagering – gave the numbers a swift kick.
Slots remain the main casino revenue generator, responsible for about 42% of the overall pie, four points higher than in Q2. Poker cash games ranked second with 22% (down two points), followed by roulette (19.3%, -0.5 points), blackjack (9.1%, flat) and tournament poker (7.5%, -1.2 points).
As of the end of Q3, there were seven companies licensed to operate in Portugal, seven of whom offered casino products while only four offer sports betting. The latest recipient was local betting operator A Nossa Aposta, which received an online slots license for its Nossaposta.pt site in late September. Local brick-and-mortar casino operator Solverde received its online casino license for Casinosolverde.pt a few weeks earlier.
Source: GMB / Calvin Ayre
