Portugese Online Gaming Industry Boasts of a €54.1m Growth

By John Isaac,
Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac is an editor with many years of experience in the gambling industry. He writes expert articles on card games like blackjack and poker. In addition, he is also well aware of the US gambling laws and the Indian and Dutch gambling markets. You can rely on verified information and insightful details.

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Last updated: January 6, 2020

According to the Portuguese gambling regulator, Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal, (SRIJ), the country’s gambling revenue continues to experience favorable growth for the 7th quarter in a row.

Portugal Online Gaming Industry Grows For 7th Quarter in a Row © Frank Nürnberger

The 3rd quarter 2019 report indicates a record growth of €54.1m thanks to sports betting and casino games. These impressive figures represent a 39.1% year-on-year growth. Surprisingly, the increase was only generated by 11 registered operators owning 18 licenses in the gambling industry, further attesting the benefits of having a regulated gambling market.

Rise in number of Investors

The report also noted a rise in the number of investors from 2 operators in September 2018, to 11 operators in September 2019. €23.6m of the revenue was raised by the Online Gambling Tax (IEJO), which is an increase of €6.4m from last year’s figures. On the other hand, Casino revenue increased from €25.3m to €28.2m quarter on quarter.

On the gambler’s side, bettors recorded a total of €114 million in stakes, which is a slight increase of €1.9 million from the previous quarter. 77.53% of all wagers were on football. However, it is hard to ignore that the stakes of the quarterly bet dropped from the €131.3 million records of the first three months of 2019.

The report also reflected an increase in the number of registered gamblers from 102,200 in the previous quarter to 149,000 in the 3rd quarter. As of the time of report publication, a total of 354,000 people conducted online betting during the entire quarter.

Unfortunately, Portugal continues to face the challenge of black-market gambling from unlicensed operators, a nightmare that hinders the process of revenue collection as well as the collection of gambling data.

According to a survey conducted by (APAJO), the Portuguese Association of Online Gambling reported that 56% of the gamblers still use unlicensed services three years after the suspension of all unlicensed gambling in the country.

GiG Likely Ally in William Hill’s Invasion of Latvian iGaming Industry

William Hill is set to make its debut into the Latvian gambling space through Mr. Green Group’s (MGG) brand. Additionally, the Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) will be working with MGG by providing software platform development support for the project’s roll-out.

The collaboration between these two brands is not a new phenomenon as the two are already running duet operations elsewhere. For instance, GiG provides a sportsbook solution for local brand 11.iv, which is partially owned by Mr. Green Group. On the other hand, William Hill bought the MGG business for €242 million the same year.

“This is an exciting period for the William Hill Group company in Latvia, as we move ahead with our strategy to introduce a global brand such as Mr. Green to the market,” Janis Tregers CEO of the operator’s Latvian subsidiary said. “We see it as the perfect partner to the locally well established 11.lv brand, also hosted on the GIG platform,” Mrs. Tregers told the Gamblinginsider.

“By working closely with GiG and utilizing their technology from product, compliance and many more aspects, we have propelled 11.lv to 2nd position among major brands in the market. It is now time to make Mr. Green a similar success.”

“Latvia is an interesting market for online gambling, and we are looking forward to supporting Mr. Green’s growth with a strong, safe and entertaining product.”

The entry of William Hill into the Latvian gambling market is another true testimony of its success in the international market as the company already operates in a dozen of other countries Europe, Asia, and Australia.