The Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), Spain’s gambling regulator, released an update on the first quarter of 2021, showing a year-on-year increase of 10.2% in the country’s gross gaming revenue (GGR). The total GGR for the first quarter of the year was estimated at €240.1 million ($285.4M), which is an increase of 3.8% on the previous three-month period.
More Spanish Online Gamblers Than Ever
New online player account registered monthly grew by 7.9% and the number of deposits and withdrawals were up by 6.1% and 6.4%. At a number of 1.1 million active gambling accounts, this is a 22.7% increase year-on-year. At 45.6% of the quarter’s GGR, sports betting represents €110.3 million ($131.11M), which is slightly down from 2020’s first quarter. At the time, it accounted for 50.4% of the GGR. However, this is still 6.5% more than 2020’s last quarter.
At €99.5 million ($118.29M), which is up 28.3% on the same period in 2020, online casinos accounted for 41.4% of the GGR for this quarter. Bringing in €25.0 million ($29.7M), which is up 3.1% from the previous year, poker was the next largest vertical. Bingo brought in €3.6 million ($4.28M), down 2.4%. There is more room for growth, though, and 2021 has the potential to see a stronger market as new operators are brought onboard.
New Marketing Tendencies
Perhaps due to the rise in popularity of gambling and the more widely known influence of this activity, marketing spending was down 1.7% compared to the previous quarter. The only exception is affiliate marketing, spending for which rose up by 1.2%. Of a total of 80 operators, 44 offered sports betting and 51 offered full-on casino gambling. Poker, bingo and prize drawls were offered by very few operators; respectively, nine, three and two.
The latest results follow a successful 2020 that saw Spain’s online gambling market make significant strides. According to previous data, online GGR was €850.7 million (slightly more than $1.01B), 13.7% higher than a year earlier. Overall, since 2015, the market has added 268% and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
However, whether the trend continues remains to be seen. Spain, as are other European countries, is cracking down on a lot of the advertising opportunities gaming operators have, and this might push the growth rate down. There is also a dedicated effort to emphasize self-exclusion capabilities in the country, which have already been proven successful at helping those with gambling problems find relief.