Casino and Euros drive 56% surge in Spain Q2 revenues
Sports betting and casino enjoys double-digit growth while poker continues to slump
The Spanish egaming market took a major step forward in Q2 with a 56% year-on-year growth in gross gaming revenue (GGR) to 99m, according to new figures from the Spanish regulatory body (DGOJ).
That revenue was generated from total wagers of 2.73bn, with a gross margin of just 3.6%, despite sports bets making up more than half of the market.
Casino was the fastest-growing vertical, up 12% sequentially and 91% year-on-year thanks to an expanding slots market and live roulette, which contributed 48% of total roulette revenues, while poker, sports betting and bingo all slipped back compared to Q1.
Sports betting GGR was still up 70% year-on-year thanks to an increase in live betting and the impact of the Euros.
Poker was the worst performing sector, down 10% year-on-year with cash games falling 67%.
By GGR, betting accounted for 54% of the market, casino 28%, poker 14% and bingo 2%.
“Online gambling in Spain continues to grow moderately,” said Spanish gaming consultant Eduardo Morales Hermo.
“The incorporation of slots has helped participation in casino games, while growth in roulette was driven by live offerings.
“The pending issue for sports betting is the need to achieve a gross margin around 7%, as seen in other markets. The current 4.5-5% is relatively a very low margin and needs a larger volume or scale to achieve positive operating results.”
He added that the market was still controlled by half a dozen international operators (bet365, William Hill, bwin, 888, PokerStars, and Sportium), with national operators like Luckia, Casino Barcelona, ââVive La, still fighting for market share.