Spain’s Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ) recently released its first-quarter financial and market share results for its online gambling and betting sector. We reviewed their findings and highlighted some of the most outstanding points of interest to provide a quick and easy understanding of how regulated Spanish gambling is doing.

 Consistent Financial Growth 2023/2024

Looking at the Q1 financial results, it is clear that Spanish bettors and casino fans are happy with the products and services they are receiving. As many regulatory regions are finding out, when you do not cater to your citizens' needs, they gamble offshore; that is not the case in Spain.

The DGOJ report shows that Quarter-on-Quarter (QoQ) deposits have increased by 5.61% to €1,094,728,172. While this is a fantastic result in any market, it is blown away by the fact that as a Year-on-Year (YoY) result, this figure represents a growth of 15.61%!

Once player withdrawals and other fees are accounted for, the Gambling Authority has €350.69 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR), a QoQ increase of 11.23% and a YoY increase of 15.14%.

Looking at the marketing expenditure data, it is clear that while YoY spending is up 14.86%, it has been money well spent, with new player accounts climbing 33.64% for the same period. The best news is that QoQ spending is down 1%, yet new player growth is tracked at 15.21%, showing they are not over-capitalising in this area.

 Casino Continues to Strengthen Its Position

The government report also provided an insightful breakdown of how the popularity of each of the gambling categories in the region compares to Q1 results going back to 2021.

While interest in games of chance spiked to 54.94% in response to the lockdowns in Q1 2022, the casino segment shows sustainable growth. Without the artificial spike in 2022, we see 41.46% in 2021, 47.07% in 2023, and 47.84% in 2024. Looking at player game choices, they revealed that live roulette has been a big market driver, increasing by 22.19% YoY, followed by slots with 14.98% and blackjack with 7.32%.

On the flip side, while sports betting continues to be a popular pastime in Spain and has recovered from the effects of COVID lockdowns, market sentiment has cooled somewhat. In 2021, it held 45.93% of the market, but for the past two years, it has not been able to reach 43%.

Interest in online and land-based poker is in slow but steady decline, tapering off from its Q1 202 high of 10.84% to only 8.11% in 2024. Bingo isn’t doing any better, with a meagre 1.19% market share this year.

 Licensing Aligns With Consumer Interest

The latest licensing data shows that the DGOJ has aligned player needs with operator onboarding. This is a proven strategy for incremental growth while meeting the community's needs in terms of variety, bonuses, and game choice.

Spanish licensing breakdown per gambling type:

1. Casino Licensees: 50
2. Betting Licensees: 41
3. Poker Licensees: 9
4. Bingo Licensees: 4

If you are looking for the best online casino entertainment in Spain, we recommend visiting our dedicated online casino review and bonuses section. Use the available filters to highlight gambling providers that meet your specific needs.