Spanish Gaming Market Saves Jobs Despite Losing Money

Businesses and industries have taken a huge knock due to mass shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lives of people around the entire world have been interrupted in many ways.

As a result, most industry’s revenues are down, leading to unemployment in many sectors. But, even amid all of this, some positivity shines through in Spain where the gambling industry seems to have weathered the financial storm without massive casualties and has flexed its ‘muscles’ to show its resiliency.

 A Look on the Bright Side

Industry statistics calculated by Cejuego and the University of Carlos III of Madrid show that revenues in Spain’s gambling industry are down 50% from last year - totalling almost €4.35 billion during the first 10 months.

This is a split of €2.45 billion for private businesses and €1.9 billion in total from the state-owned Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles.

Even with a much lower yield this year, gambling businesses have managed to reduce the fallout of job losses tremendously, having secured ongoing posts for 85% of its workforce going forward.

Alejandro Landaluce, CEO of Cejuegos, said:

“Despite the fact the drop in income from gaming companies is higher than that recorded in other sectors such as fashion, automobiles or in-store sales in department stores, we have managed to reduce ERTES [temporary layoffs or reductions in hours] to 15 percent of the workforce, so that 85 percent of employees in the sector are working at the moment.”

While this was no easy feat, you would think that keeping this momentum wouldn’t be a problem going forward, as things look sure to get better in the near future and not worse.

However, the segment is set to further show its staying power during an already trying time, as betting operators and casinos face additional regulations that clearly may not have been needed right now.

 Per Royal Decree

Concerns have been raised about imminent changes to the advertising and sponsorship laws in Spain. At a time where the industry is looking to recover and stabilise itself, the government has enforced severe restrictions on marketing.

Extensive adverts, offers, and sponsorships would have been the ideal way to push back to normality, but it seems that casinos, sportsbooks, and other betting platforms will have to head back to the drawing board to find more innovative ways of growing this marketspace.

The efforts of Spanish operators to keep the industry alive are applaudable, but, hopefully, a good balance of responsible gambling regulation and fair-trade principles can be established in the near future to aid the industry in its goal of recovery.

For more information on the new regulations in Spain, be sure to read our article on the Top 10 FAQs Regarding the Recent Spanish Royal Decree on Gambling.