Online casinos are the biggest growth factor
Around Casino games accounted for 154.4 million euros of revenue in the online sector [Article on English], i.e. Slots, blackjack, roulette or poker, as the specialist magazine iGaming Business reports.
In total, players spent 3.84 billion euros on online casino games, which was 28.7% more than a year ago. Gross gaming revenue even increased by 40.7%, suggesting that online casino margins may have been higher in 2023.
Lower margins for sports betting providers
The situation with online sports betting looks somewhat different. Here, players' spending increased to 532.1 million euros, which represents an increase of 16% year-on-year. However, the bookmakers' gross gaming revenue fell from 85.4 million to 72.8 million euros.
How exactly this decline can be explained can only be answered speculatively. However, it seems conceivable that high competition with customer-friendly bonuses and high betting odds could have led to the margin being reduced.
More registrations and self-exclusions
By the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, there were 4.2 million active gambling accounts in Portugal. In this quarter alone, 319,500 people opened a new account. A year earlier there were 237,600 in the same period.
At the same time, more players have also made use of the so-called self-exclusion to block their accounts and prevent themselves from gambling. This option will be used by 215,000 players in the fourth quarter of 2023. That was 18,400 more than in the third quarter of 2023 and 63,200 more than in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Portugal is consistently fighting illegal gambling websites
The Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ), Portugal's gaming authority, again asked 23 unlicensed market participants to stop operating their websites in the fourth quarter.
The Portuguese gambling authority is known for taking such measures and, if necessary, blocking the network to prevent illegal gambling offers from being accessible. However, it is only in rare cases that the masterminds behind the websites are prosecuted.
In United Kingdom there is still no such measure against illegal gambling websites, but that Payment blocking from unlicensed gambling providers is now permitted.
Stationary gambling is lagging behind
There is some evidence to suggest that gambling in Portugal is moving from the stationary sector to the Internet, because while online gambling has set new records, sales in the terrestrial business continue to decline slightly.
It remains to be seen how the market situation will develop. It would be exciting to see how well online gambling can be channeled into the legal market, even though Portugal demands high taxes from providers.
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