Spain Reports Growth in iGaming Verticals

Spain has reported a huge financial boost in all sports betting and casino verticals in the third quarter, with a total 29% year-on-year increase in GGR. The gross gaming revenue for the months of July, August and September was €181.8 million.

All Going Smoothly in Iberia

The country's Direccion General de Ordenacion del Juego (DGOJ) explains these figures by, first and foremost, a massive increase in sports betting revenue (27.4%), which totaled €97.4 million in third quarter...

...This was boosted by the biggest sporting event after Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup, which was entering its second and most dramatic phase when the third quarter began.

Even the fact that Spain did not make it past 1/8 finals failed to soften the interest of Spaniards in betting on football. In fact, the amount of money wagered were 21.6% bigger than in Q3 of 2017 with €1,61 billion in bets placed.

When the World Cup began in June, Spanish operators were enjoying the best month in history, according to DGOJ.

Casinos Going Strong Too

Not only sports betting and betting on football went from strength to strength – the casino industry which includes slot and table games, reported a 39.2% increase in GGR which totaled €60.8 million. Slots contributed the most, with €34.2 million in the quarter. Live roulette was second most popular form of gambling, which amassed €11.9 million.

Poker was doing good as well in Spain, with a 35.1% annual rise (€19.8 million in revenue). This was achieved thanks to liquidity pooling with Portugal and France...

...Bingo was another gambling vertical that was on the increase (11.3% to €3.1 million). The only vertical not making any gains and in fact dropping in revenue was contests – its revenue dropped a staggering 85%.

A Well-Placed Ad is Golden

Such a high jump in revenue can be explained by the fact that all of Spain's 52 licensed operators invested heavily in marketing during this period. The total marketing investment in all channels rose by 56.3%, with operators spending €75.9 million on ads.

Out of these 52 operators, 38 of them are providing services in the casino industry, 29 in sports betting, nine were active in poker, six in bingo and one in contests.

Sponsorship investment made a colossal 83.4% leap on annual level, whereas player bonuses spend also rose to €28.6 million. Affiliate marketing investment was also 49.8% higher than during same period last year.

In the last several months, the country's biggest casino resort, Casino Barcelona, has signed two very important supply deals that will see them increase the level of their gaming repertoire. The content they will be providing to their players is taken care for by Yggdrasil and Red Rake Gaming.

Source:

“Sports and casino boost Spanish iGaming market in Q3”, igamingbusiness.com, November 29, 2018.