Spanish market shrinks 6% despite slots boost
Lower sports betting margin sees GGR fall to 62.7m in Q2 with casino the only vertical generating growth
Spain’s online gaming market shrank by 6.3% in the second quarter of 2015 despite a 59% increase in casino revenues following the launch of slots, according to the latest figures from the country’s gambling regulator.
The Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) reported Q2 gross gaming revenues (GGR) fell to 62.7m during the three-month period despite turnover rising 29% to 2bn, with the decline primarily driven by lower gross margins in sports betting.
Sports betting has been a key driver of growth in the Spanish market in recent months, but GGR in the vertical fell 2.3% year-on-year to 31.1m despite a substantial 51.3% increase in turnover to 1.01bn during the second quarter.
Online poker also saw revenues decline, down 6.6% year-on-year to 14.4m and 13% sequentially. Revenues from cash game poker were down 28% compared with Q2 2014, while tournament revenues increased 35%.
Casino was the only vertical to grow during Q2, with GGR up 59.1% year-on-year following the introduction of slots to 14.6m, and slots accounting for 8% or 1.2m of the total.
The regulator also revealed details on marketing spend, with operators said to have invested 18.9m on “advertising, sponsorship, and promoting” during the quarter, a 19% decrease on the same period last year.