Online grows to 11% of Spanish gambling market
Big rise in turnover in regulated sector, but GGR is flat year-on-year
Strong growth in online gambling saw 4.2bn wagered on dot.es sites in 2012 comprising 11% of the total Spanish gambling market spend, according to the annual report from Spanish egaming regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ).
The egaming sector’s market share of amounts wagered rose from 6% in 2011 to 11% in 2012 with the regulator’s annual report noting “significantly higher per capita demand” for online gaming than any land-based product.
The total amount wagered online during 2012 was estimated at 4.2bn and the DGOJ noted it was a “strong growth segment” in the Spanish gambling sector.
Online turnover rose by 70% during the second half of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011, boosted by strong growth in Q4, although GGR remained effectively unchanged at 116m.
The number of registered players “steadily increased” during 2012 with just over 1 million players now registered with the DGOJ.
Sports betting continues to lead the online gambling market with a 37.5% market share of net revenue, while poker is close behind with 30% of revenue.
The majority of poker revenue comes from cash games with around a third coming from poker tournaments in the period, while casino games represented 11% and bingo just 4%.
Overall the Spanish gambling sector saw GGR drop by 4.4% in 2012 to 8.7bn with the DGOJ noting a general “downward evolution” as the economic crisis took effect.
The DGOJ annual report noted the economic crisis, the loss of popularity of some of the traditional games and a big increase in online gaming had an effect on the land-based sector.
It also noted there were plans to expand the regulated product offering with discussions underway aimed at licensing exchange betting and slots in the coming months.