Poll: Is Spain’s market now too big to ignore?

On the face of it, the Spanish online gaming market is in a good place. According to figures released by the regulator, 2016 was a record in terms of revenues and turnover.

Revenues were up by a third to €429m while turnover surpassed the €10bn mark, with December alone contributing more than £1bn – the best monthly performance since the market regulated back in 2012.

Sportsbook and casino continue to grow apace, with 2016 revenues for the verticals up 32% and 73% year-on-year, while active players and deposits are also on the rise.

So it would appear the market, which was widely viewed to have underperformed since regulation, is finally finding its feet and becoming one which operators yet to enter can no longer afford to ignore.

Yet scratch under the surface and the numbers may not be as impressive as they initially look. For instance, the country only regulated slots half way through 2016 and slots contributed almost half of the €39m posted in Q4.

Furthermore, the market is dominated by just a handful of major operators such as PokerStars, 888 and bet365, meaning smaller players are struggling to turn a profit, particularly with a tax rate set at 25% of GGR and margin of around 4% below other major markets such as the UK and Italy.

And with a population roughly four fifths the size of Italy, the market, in terms of revenues, is approximately half the size of its Mediterranean counterpart.

With this in mind, this week’s poll asks whether Spain is now a market too big to ignore or whether the market share held by major brands and its high tax rate mean it’s not as attractive is it may initially appear. Have your say here.