The launch of online slots in Spain cannot come soon enough it appears, after the regulator released figures indicating the dot.es gambling market had plateaued by the first quarter of 2013, less than 12 months after opening.
Licensed operators generated gross gaming revenues (GGR) of €60.4m from online sports betting, poker, bingo and casino table games in the first three months of 2012, €1m less than in Q4 2012, with stakes up only marginally by 0.7% to €1,369m.
Spanish regulator the DGOJ commented: “In the absence of more information to assess the possible seasonality impact, it can be concluded that, following strong growth of the online gambling market (both in terms of stakes, GGR and players) in the first months after regulation of the sector began in June 2012, growth has been slower from the last quarter of 2012, especially in the first quarter of 2013, which has seen rather a reduction or stagnation of the online gaming market.”
The flat Q1 performance contrasted with quarter-on-quarter growth of 41% in GGR and 24% in stakes recorded during the final three months of 2012, although the explosive growth which characterised the dot.es online gambling market during its opening months was already showing clear signs of levelling off from November.
New player recruitment also continued to fall away in 2013, the monthly average of new registered players in Spain during January, February and March falling to 51,342, compared to 72,453 during Q4 2012 and 107,353 in Q3 2012.
From a product perspective, sports betting continued to dominate the dot.es market, accounting for 49.7% of GGR in the first three months of 2012, up from 48.4% in the preceding quarter. Cash poker remained stable at 19.6% of revenues, with poker tournaments and roulette increasing their shares to 9.9% and 9.8% respectively. Bingo also continued to struggle, its share of GGR decreasing to 2.9% from 3.6%.
In terms of stakes, sports betting accounted for 34% of the €1,369m wagered on Spanish-licensed sites in the period, effectively on a par with cash poker, with 33.9%.
As well as the licensing of slots and exchange betting, Spain’s regulator is also keen to pool online poker liquidity with other ring-fenced national player pools in Italy and France. Both Italy and France suffered substantial declines in poker revenues in the first quarter, impacted by a combination of high tax rates and a more restricted range of games and prizes than those available on dot.com sites.
The DGOJ’s former regulatory chief, Enrique Alejo, observed in February that the future of online gambling in Spain would be controlled by large international players, reflecting the tendency of the sector towards globalisation. PokerStars and 888 dominate dot.es poker, with Bet365 and bwin leading in sports betting.
Article written by Stephen Carter
