The second quarter of 2021 was an excellent one for Portugal’s online gambling industry, thanks to a busy sports betting season.
The country’s gaming authority the Servico de Regulacao Inspecao de Jogos (SRIJ), reported a staggering 81.9% jump in online gambling revenue year on year. This was clearly due to the 224.5% increase in sports betting revenue in the second quarter of the year.
Key points of the SRIJ report were as follow:
- Online gambling revenue overall reached EUR 125 million – an increase from EUR 68.7 million year on year.
- Sports betting revenue jumped to EUR 67.5 million from EUR 20.8 million. Analysts say that this was in most part due to Portugal’s easing of COVID-19 related betting restrictions.
- Players wagered on multiple sports events, including the UEFA European Championship.
- Football is the most popular sport to bet on for Portuguese online gamblers. 77.5% of all online sports bets were made on football in the second quarter of the year.
- Tennis is a far second, with less than 10% of the market share, followed close behind in third place with basketball at 8.7%.
- The amount spent by online casino gamblers grew 25.2% year on year to EUR 57.5 million.
- Slots are the most popular online casino games for local players, accounting for 76% of all online casino bets.
