Reputable Stockholm-listed gaming operator, LeoVegas, stepped into the regulated Spanish market.
By obtaining a permit to offer both online casino and sports betting services to punters in Spain, this provider began its conquest of new business territories.
Chief executive, Gustaf Hagman, has said that the company will now look to build on this license by pursuing opportunities in other Spanish-speaking countries, citing Peru and Chile as possible future markets.
“With LeoVegas' position as 'King of Casino', we are now entering Spain with the ambition to take the mobile position and offer the ultimate gaming experience.”
“The Spanish online gambling market has strong underlying growth with over 20% per year. The Spanish license is an important step in our continued expansion, in other Spanish-speaking countries, where we have already conducted test launches in Peru and Chile,” Hagman said.
With this new license, the company can now legally operate in seven local markets around the world, including the UK, Malta, and Sweden.
The upcoming Spanish entry marks the first milestone in the operator’s strategy to expand across a number of Spanish-speaking markets. According to a statement from the company’s CEO, the test launches in Peru and Chile are already in progress.
However, the company conquered a big piece of the online gambling business earlier this year.
Acquiring the license of the Swedish Gambling Authority to bring its offering into the iGaming space in Scandinavia was a huge step forward for the company’s expansion plans, particularly since this is one of the toughest markets to get in to.
For now, the company seems focused on expanding to the lucrative Spanish-speaking region. After Spain, there are numerous countries within Latin America which are of interest to the operator…
… starting with Peru and Chile.
It expects significant revenue from the Spanish market, and according to the whispers on the gaming forums, it looks like the players from this country are eager to try out this platform.
Speaking of which, the operator is among the premier mobile-driven venues. Via its global LeoVegas and Royal Panda brands as well as a number of local UK-facing brands, it is offering:
On the other hand, it seems like Hagman has his eyes on a much bigger prize: the US sports betting market. In fact, he watches the progress of legalization closely. On several occasions, the CEO said that the US is on the company’s radar, since it is a market with huge potential.
However, in his words, there are a lot of factors to consider before moving forward with such a massive expanding venture.
Spain’s online gambling market rose by more than one-fifth in the first quarter of 2019. Despite the poker vertical’s decline, the revenues are much higher compared to the same period of last year. This means, the market has great potential. So much potential, in fact, experts are claiming that this industry is the only beacon of hope for the troubling economy of this country.
Gross gaming revenue for the Spanish iGaming market for the first quarter of 2019 (to March 31) amounted to €193.3m (£173.3m/$219.0m), which is way up from €163.3m in the same period last year.
The country’s regulator, La Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), shows betting as the main source of income, with revenue up 26.2% from €81.7m in Q1 last year to €100.8m!
Source:
“LeoVegas Granted Gaming License in Spain”, prnewswire.com, July 1, 2019