Spain's online gaming market continues to blossom

Furthermore, the amount wagered online was also up by an impressive 19.9% to €2.9 billion, according to the latest results released by the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ).

Dominating the industry during the fourth quarter of 2016 was sports betting, which generated 55.52% of the country’s total gambling revenues worth €69.8m; followed by casinos with a 28.6% share worth €36m; poker with a 12.12% share worth €15.2m; and bingo with a 2% share worth €2.2m.

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In terms of growth, the sports betting segment saw its revenue rise by an impressive +30.6%, with casinos surging by 58.8%, poker by just 4.6%, and bingo by a mere 0.2%.

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Interestingly, while slots were an underperforming vertical of the Spanish gambling market in Q4 of 2016, one year later and it has now become its rising star, accounting for 46.7% of land-based casino revenue, and 36% of casino spending online. Moreover, the increasing popularity of slots did not negatively impact the casinos’ other gambling products, with roulette revenue up 24% to €12.7m, and blackjack up 0.67% to €6.4m.

Online poker proved a mixed bag, on the other hand, with tournament revenue rising by 16.9%, while cash games business went in the opposite direction, contracting by 7.6% in Q4.

Finally, the number of customers signing up for new online accounts in Q4 increased by 10% to 598k, while active user activity spiked by 17.3% to 604k over the same period. Helping these numbers along was gambling companies spending one-third more on advertising their products in the last three months of the year.

In the meantime, Spain’s online poker market may soon receive a significant boost if the recent discussions to share poker players with other EU countries bear fruit, including those based in France, Italy, Portugal, as well as possibly Germany and the UK. If successful, options are even being discussed to extend the cross-border agreement to include sports betting exchanges, too.