Portugal revenues rise 25% on strength of football betting
Sports betting accounted for 56% of GGR for 2017 with 77% of bets placed on football matches
The Portuguese online gambling market grew 25% year-on-year with GGR reaching €122.5m in 2017, according to new figures from the country’s gambling regulator.
The SRIJ revealed sportsbook accounted for 56% of GGR at €68.1m with 77% of bets being placed on football, predominantly within the domestic leagues.
Elsewhere, gaming revenues for the fiscal year were €54.4m with online slots accounting for 45.1% of gaming revenues.
Poker was the second most popular vertical making up 19.7% of revenues, with roulette following closely behind at 19.2%.
SRIJ revealed 17,600 players had opted to self-exclude by the end of 2017 accounting for 2.2% of all active accounts.
The figures put the market broadly in line with the UK, where 1.2m customers self-excluded in 2017, equivalent to 2.7% of account holders.
The market numbers come weeks after SRIJ initiated a review of its regulatory framework, asking for input from key stakeholders within the market.
The consultation will be presented to the government in an update on how the industry has performed since its inception in March 2016.
Many major operators have deemed the market a relative failure, with only 11 licences issued to seven operators, in large part thanks to a restrictive turnover tax on betting turnover.