Portuguese Regulator Reveals the Results from Q3, the Revenue Hit Records
The online gambling revenue in Portugal keeps increasing, and the new quarterly record has been broken. In the third quarter, Portugal earned €215.3 million (£185.6m/$235.4m), according to the country’s gambling regulator Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ).
The land-based casinos’ revenue also increased, but sports betting in Portugal doesn’t seem to be as much popular as it used to be.
Records broken:
The revenue from the same quarter in 2022 was lower by 36.1%. In Q3 of 2022, the revenue was €158.2 million. The revenue also increased by 4.6% compared to the second quarter of 2023, when it was €122.9 million.
The biggest increase in revenue was thanks to the games of chance, where the annual growth was 50.5%, and the state generated €133.4 million. In the latest quarter, such games generated 62% of all online gambling revenue.
In total, the players spent €3.65 billion playing online games during the quarter which hit a new record, with an increase of 47.2%. Slots were the most popular type of game, with 82.3% of the total amount, Blackjack generated about 6.2%, and French roulette took 6.4%.
Sports betting results are concerning:
However, these days aren’t so good for the sports betting industry in Portugal, despite the annual growth. The total revenue generated from sports betting in the third quarter is €81.9 million, which is an increase of 17.1% compared to 2022.
However, what is concerning is that it is 2.5% lower than in the second quarter, and the third quarter with a revenue decrease.
In Q3, the players spent €390.5 million on sports betting, which is 12.1% more than during the same period in 2022. The most popular sport was football, with 71.4%, followed by tennis with 22.2%, with other sports taking 6.4%.
In the third quarter, 196.600 players excluded themselves from online gambling, which is a huge increase of 42.5% annually. There were 205.200 new accounts, and 97.800 canceled accounts as well. In total, 23 websites were closed by SRIJ in the third quarter because of illegal gambling operations.
The state’s operators recorded 3.9 million active accounts used for online gambling in the third quarter.
Land-based casinos revenue increased compared to last year:
When it comes to land-based gambling, the increase is also recorded. In the third quarter, the revenue was €76.1 million, which is 14.0% more than in the same period in 2022.
As iGaming Business reports, slot machines earned €57.2 million, which is an increase of 1%, and generated 75.1% of the quarterly revenue. Casino-style and bingo games generated €18.9 million, which is 35.6% more than in the same quarter last year.
Baccarat earned €5.9 million, American roulette eared €5.8 million, and blackjack generated €3.3 million.