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Danish Gambling Authority Posts Impressive Q4 2020 Stats
By Shane Addinall Feb 23, 2021 IndustryThe Danish Gambling Authority released the markets Q4 2020 stats with a comparison to the same period in 2019. Across the board the results were impressive, with a few notable exceptions.As we move deeper into the first quarter of 2021 many regulatory bodies are finalising their fourth-quarter 2020 market reviews. The Danish Gambling Authority (DGA) released its quarterly statistics earlier this month and the results speak volumes about the future of the country’s online gambling industry.
Thanks to the strength of the online gambling and betting market, which bolstered the flagging revenues of the land-based operators, Denmark managed to generate gross gaming revenue (GGR) of DKK 1,727 million (€232 million) which is an overall market growth of 6.6%.
Online Casino Shines Bright
The online casino industry in Denmark has been on the rise going back as far as 2012. Year on year the vertical continued to gain ground, which unsurprisingly, was one of the DGA’s concerns moving into the pandemic era. Their primary concern being that there would be a spike in compulsive gambling behaviour due to boredom and anxiety.
Due to the swift, yet even-handed approach the country took in addressing the potential for problem gambling the region reported gradual increases in player activity and no spike in the country’s gambling self-exclusion registry ROFUS. In fact, the percentile player activity growth in online gambling in 2020 was less than the same period for 2018-2019.
According to the results released by the DGA, the online casino vertical showed an impressive 16.5% growth in Q4 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The region closed out the year with a gross gaming revenue (GGR) figure of DK 666 million (€89.5 million).
Online Betting Holds the Line
The Danes have always been fan favourites of online sports betting. Historically the betting market eclipsed online casino games, generating 50% more GGR year on year, a trend that only came to an end due to the lockdown and the widespread cancellation of live sporting events around the world.
Despite the ravaging impact of the pandemic on the sports betting industry worldwide in Denmark, the vertical showed a fantastic 16.5% recovery compared to the same period in 2019 posting DK 723 million (€97.3 million). What is even more exciting about this result is that is the markets highest single-quarter GGR figure in the last decade, beating out Q4 2017 where it generated DKK 712 million in gross gaming income.
It will be interesting to see how the Danes respond to the increasing prevalence of virtual sports in a world sporting events can be cancelled at the drop of a hat. Given their love of betting it could become a hot market for virtual events tailored to showcase localised games and local teams.
Land Based Gambling Down but Not Out
With the focus last year being on social distancing and government-enforced lockdowns it comes as no surprise that the Danish land-based gambling market nosed from 2019 into 2020, a trend which is not yet reversed.
According to the Gambling Authority’s report both land-based casino and gaming machines posted devastating losses:
- Land-based casino revenue: -23.1%
- Revenue from gaming machines: -20.3%
Despite both land-based casinos and gaming halls posting heavy revenue losses compared to 2019, the one ray of hope is in-person gambling has recovered from its all-time low in Q2 2020 where the industry only generated DKK 16 million.
With that in minds, the fourth-quarter result of DKK 69 million is a marked improvement and with the rollout of vaccines and additional safety measures it should be relatively easy for operators to regain previous highs of around DKK 95 million.
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