First online gaming licenses in Spain to be granted in April

Once the government grants the first online gaming licenses, the new market will be officially opened, the online betting, which has not been taxed so far in Spain because the sector has not been regulated until the gaming law came into force in May 2011.
This new market will more around 700 million euros in 2013, the double of what they will obtain this year, when the Internet gaming offer is consolidated, according to data brought by JAK Comunicación consulting company, based in forecasts made by Italian firm MAG and the JDigital association on the estimation of incomes for online companies.

For 2012, the difference between the amount played and paid in jackpots will fluctuate between 315 and 500 million euros, an “important” difference due to the difficulty to make predictions when there are not official figures yet. However, for 2013, the data of both sources coincides: 694 million euros for MAG and 650 million, according to JDigital association.

JDigital indicates that in 2011 operators took in 370 million euros of a total of 600,000 users, 145 million in casino games, 125 million in bets and 100 million in poker. This business will represent, in 2013, according to MAG, gross benefits of 284 million for online poker, 195 million for bets, 140 million euros in online casinos and 75 for bingo, which makes a total of 694 million euros. In 2014, all the online gaming activities will be incremented: 335 million euros in poker, 265 million in betting, 160 million in casinos and 110 million in bingo, up to a total of 870 million euros.