According to the association, and the report conducted with the help of H2 Gambling Capital, the land-based sector has seen an increase in operations and overall stabilized. The lifting of COVID-19 restrictions has certainly played an important role in that. Taking the numbers in aggregate, the gross gaming revenue for the surveyed region hit €108.5 billion, or an increase of 23% year-over-year.
EGBA Outlines Strong Year for Gambling in Europe
The revenue in 2021 was reported as €101.2 billion. The results were up from the pre-pandemic 2019, and the industry beat earlier performance by 8%. The player base reached around 29 million consumers in 2022, a slight increase from the 29.8 million customers in 2021.
The report, titled “European Online Gambling – Key Figures 2022,” acknowledged that much of the recovery has been attributed to the rebound in the land-based sector. EGBA secretary-general Maarten Haijer confirmed that the year 2022 has been a strong one for the sector and marked by overall stabilization in the gambling market.
There has been much expansion in Eastern Europe with companies acquiring new licenses and launching operations in the region. Interestingly, sports betting remained the most dominant vertical in the continent, according to the data collated by EGBA by some of its most prominent members.
Casino Dominates, Sports Betting Is Close Second
In terms of online gambling revenue, casinos still remained the most prominent betting and gambling product in the market, with total contributions of €14.9 billion or 39% of the total. Sports betting was the next most popular vertical with 35% of the total or €13.6 billion, trailed by lotteries which accounted for 18% of the total market in Europe.
The number of online gambling licenses has increased tremendously over the last several years, with 121 licenses in 2018 and 2021 in 225, the report said. In 2021, which is the last available data for the type of sports bets placed, the association’s report said that the share of pre-match betting increased to 66% from 54% in 2020, with in-play markets diminishing slightly.