iGaming Market In Portugal Experiences Record High In Q1 Of 2019

The online gambling market in Europe is slowly but surely witnessing a turnaround and Portugal is one of the biggest beneficiaries.

iGaming operators in Portugal have had a great start to the year as they have done record numbers during the first quarter of this year. One of the main reasons for the boost in iGaming revenues is because Portugal new regulations have allowed iGaming operators to provide their players with more gaming options.

The strong performance in the first quarter was confirmed based on data released by the country’ gaming regulator, the Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ). The first three months of 2019 saw iGaming operators bring in a total of €47.3 million in revenue. 

This is a big improvement from the first quarter of 2018. The current numbers are 43.8 percent higher when compared to the same period in 2018 and €4.3 million higher than the previous quarter. It is also the highest revenue the market has witnessed since online gambling was legalized back in 2016. 

The SRIJ believes that the main reason for the increase in iGaming revenue is due to the notable variety gaming options. As of March, there were 10 different gambling operators working the local market. In total, they have 16 licenses between them. Nine of these licenses are for online casino and poker while the remaining seven are for sports betting. The market is going to get more options as 888 Holdings and Betano are now cleared to launch their services. 

Impressive Numbers

In the first quarter, sportsbooks brought in a lot of revenue. They earned a total of €24.8 million during this period, which is a 42.5 percent increase year-on-year. The SRIJ also provided a breakup of the sports betting numbers with 73 percent of online bets being placed on football, basketball taking second place with 11.5 percent of bets and tennis with 10.1 percent of bets.

Online casinos also reported great numbers bringing in €22.6 million. This is a 46 percent year-on-year. A significant chunk (63.5 percent) of this revenue comes from online slot games and only 13.9 percent came from online poker which is a decline, considering the first quarter in 2018 saw it contribute 20.4 percent.

With all of the new option available to players, new player sign-ups for the first quarter of 2019 are up. Reports show that there 125,200 new customers in the first quarter. Compared to 89,500 player registrations in the same period in 2018. The Portuguese government has benefited from this surge of iGaming revenue by collecting €14.4 million in tax revenue. This is a 31 percent increase from last year!