Spanish egaming market declines in Q1

Gross gaming revenue (GGR) and turnover declined in the Spanish egaming market in the first quarter of 2013 as the country’s economic crisis continues.

GGR across all products fell to €60.84m for the three month period, a quarter-on-quarter decline of 1%, while turnover dropped 0.7% to €1.37bn. In the same period official figures released by the government said the economy shrank by 0.5% and unemployment hit 27%.

Spanish regulator La Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) said that with no comparable quarter, as the market officially opened in June last year, it was unable to evaluate the effects of seasonality on results. But it said the decline represented a “a stagnation” of the online gambling market.

This was attributed in part to a slowing-down of new player sign-ups following initial rapid growth after the market opening. The number of registered players in Q1 grew 15.2% from Q4 2012 to reach 1.16m by the end of March, though average monthly registrations fell 29% to 51,343 in the final quarter of 2012.

Sports betting remained the market-leading vertical, responsible for 49.7% of GGR and 34% of amounts wagered. Despite a number of poker operators looking to hand back their licences citing tough operating conditions, cash game poker’s share of GGR rose to 19.6% with tournaments’ revenue share growing to 9.9%.

Casino games accounted for 20.6% of amounts wagered, and 13.8% of total market GGR with the launch of online slots expected later this year. But following a 22% fall in GGR, the bingo vertical accounted for just 2.9% of total market GGR for the quarter.

Publication of the results was delayed following the resignation of DGOJ general director Enrique Alejo in April, with the regulator originally intending to only publish the figures once a replacement had been found. However, with the second quarter of 2013 entering its final month, the decision was taken to have acting general director Carlos Hernandez Riera announce the figures.