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Dissecting Portugal’s Ever-Growing Online Gambling Market
By Shane Addinall Dec 20, 2022 IndustryThere is no doubt that Portugal has an excellent soccer team, but now the world of online gambling and sports betting has generated an income that puts Portugal at another record-high year. Let's take a look at just how successful the industry has been.Portugal is a growing iGaming market that draws players from across the country every day. As more online casinos launch and offer gambling options to Portuguese players, the market gets stronger and stronger.
In fact, online gaming in Portugal has generated a whopping €159.1 million in gross revenue in the third quarter of 2022; this is not Monopoly money! Moreover, this amount increased by 39.3% compared to the previous year's gross income.
With a growth rate like this in a single year, let’s dive into the online gambling market in Portugal and find out more.
What the Stats Say
According to statistics published by the Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ) for the third quarter of 2022, operating entities made approximately €89.8 million in gross revenue from the online gaming industry. This amount has increased by €25 million euros compared to the same period in 2021.
Profits generated by online games - including betting and gambling - show that the majority of users in the domestic market prefer games like slots. These players represent around 80.0% of the total users.
Sports betting is also becoming more popular in Portugal, especially in the third quarter due to the World Cup. The gross revenue for the last quarter of 2022 is equivalent to around €69.3 million, which is €19.9 million more than the amount recorded in the previous year. Football (or soccer) continued to be the favourite sport amongst the sport betting categories and had 78.0% of the total bets placed, ranking it as the most popular.
New player registrations for online gaming also spiked the revenue and increased by 17,5% in the 3rd quarter of 2022, compared to the 2nd quarter of 2022. These numbers mean that the SRIJ2 are doing something right because more players are attracted to the online gaming industry, whether for sports betting, spinning slots or other forms of online gambling.
Staying Safe
While these numbers continue to increase, we may ask: How have they achieved such an increase every year? One might think that they include any provider, licensed or unlicensed regulated or not, in these statistics, but on the contrary, they are very strict about unregulated activity.
From June 2015 to September 2022, 1040 illegal gambling operators were notified to end activity in Portugal and close their platforms. In the third quarter of 2022, 60 illegal operators were notified, and providers were advised to block 63 websites of illegal operators.
Additionally, the SRIJ has also limited the advertisements by game operators with no valid license and implemented several monitoring and awareness actions among the media.
Why the Exponential Growth?
SRIJ statistics showed that due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on sports, a drastic fall was noted from March 2020 onwards, with April recording the lowest bet volume of €7.7 million.
Portugal has strong player engagement with their soccer team and the online betting world. It is evident that sports betting is a form of income for the country and its residents. Anyone with a smartphone can access these platforms and place their bets.
While factors such as the FIFA World Cup added to the growth of the industry for 2022, if Portugal stays on the same safe and rewarding trajectory, only good things can be on the cards for this region.
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