Online gross gambling revenue (GGR) in Spain amounted to €346.3m (£290.1m/$386.4m) in Q2, an increase on the previous year but slightly lower than the opening quarter of this year, despite the opening of UEFA's Euro 2024 in June.
The Q2 total is 10.8% higher than €312.6m in Q2 of last year, according to Spain’s regulator Directorate General for Gambling Regulation (DGOJ). However, the figure – covering the April-June period, is 1.2% behind the $350.7m revenue reported in Q1 this year.
Casino was again the main source of online GGR in Spain, generating €171.7m, or 49.6%, of all Q2 revenue. This is 14.6% more than last year and also a 2.3% increase from Q1’s total.
Within online casino, slots GGR increased by 19.5% from last year, while live roulette revenue was also up 9.6%. Slots and blackjack revenue also improved quarter-on-quarter but both conventional and live roulette revenue were down.
Mixed results for sports betting in Q2
Looking elsewhere in the market, sports betting revenue during the quarter hit €145.5m. This is 9.1% more than in Spain last year but 3.2% behind Q1’s total.
Breaking this down, football pre-match GGR was 10.3% lower than last year, although in-play bets increased by 5.8%. Other bet types jumped 36.6%, but horse racing betting declined 12.3%.
Meanwhile, online poker revenue in Spain dipped 0.8% year-on-year to €25.6m, with this also 10.2% lower than Q1. This was despite a positive variation rate of 6.2% compared to last year and 1.2% from Q1.
Bingo revenue edged up 1.9% year-on-year to €3.6m, although this was 13.9% less than Q1. In addition, GGR from contests remained level at €2,000 for the quarter.
Online gambling marketing expenses continue to rise in Spain
In terms of marketing, spend in this area amounted to €120.2m. This is some 22.5% more than Q2 last year and 6.6% ahead of Q1.
Going into more detail on marketing expenses, some €62.3m was attributed to promotional spend and €44.0m advertising. A further €12.8m was spent on affiliates and €1.2m on sponsorship.
In April, the Spanish Supreme Court overturned a number of strict advertising restrictions that were put in place in 2020, including advertising to new customers and using celebrities or influencers to market gambling products.
As for player deposits, the total placed into online accounts in Q2 was €1.09bn. This is 15.9% more than last year’s amount and 5.6% ahead of Q2. A total of €740.0m was withdrawn by players during the quarter.
On top of this, active player accounts hit 1.4 million, higher than last year and also Q1 this year. In addition, new game accounts hiked 46.6% year-on-year to 446,586, with this also 1.8% more than Q1.
By the end of Q2, Spain had a total of 78 licensed online operators. Of these 50 offered casino games, 42 sports betting, nine poker, four bingo and two contests.
