iGB Intelligence reports iGB Market Monitor June 2017 | Page 12

Part 3: Spain – a lull in activity Part 3 Spain — a lull in activity We said in last summer’s Market Monitor that the €11.4m and we saw something of a bounceback in test of the maturity of the Spanish online market March when GGR came in at just over €12m. would be to see how online casino operations fared in the first few years of operation after online slots were licensed in late 2015. Early indications were promising. From a standing start Table 2: Spanish online casino monthly GGR Year GGR (€m) in late 2015, by the last quarter of 2016 slots were Apr-16 9.38 worth €16.8m in gross gaming revenues (GGR), or May-16 9.82 just over 42% of total casino GGR. Jun-16 8.9 Jul-16 9.61 Aug-16 9.07 at €13.7m, a near 20% fall on the previous quarter. Sep-16 9.76 Although it still represented a 44% year-on-year Oct-16 10.95 rise, it suggests at least a pause in progress. Nov-16 11.3 Dec-16 13.7 Jan-17 10.65 — despite the rise of slots — still accounts for an Feb-17 9.85 equal slice of total online casino revenues at 42%, Mar-17 12.02 However, by the first quarter of this year, the product’s rise appeared to have hit a barrier. Total slots GGR for the three months to March came in Yet, a deeper look into the number provides a more nuanced picture. A large driver of online casino in Spain is to be found with roulette which with conventional roulette worth €6m in GGR in the first quarter and live roulette worth €7.6m in GGR. The combined €13.7m represents a rise of 7% It wasn’t just the casino market which suffered a setback in February; sports betting GGR also on the previous quarter’s total of €12.8m and a tumbled in that month, down to €18.3m from 19% year-on-year rise. €32.3m in January before regaining some ground Indeed, when the performance of the casino in March to hit €21m. segment as a whole is broken down by the This is just below the six-month average for Spanish regulator, the Dirección General de October to March of €23.6m and is above the Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), the picture looks average figure for the previous six months of more positive. €18.3m. Of the total for the quarter of €69.2m, On a month-by-month basis, we can see that the damage in the first quarter was caused by a more than 63%, or €43, 7m came from in-play betting and the remaining €25.5m was pre-match. particularly poor February when total casino GGR fell back to €9.85m. This compares with a six-month average GGR figure for the months from October to March of iGaming Business Market Monitor • June 2017 Still growing after all these years All told, total revenues for the quarter came in at €122.7m, or 2.4% below the figure for the fourth 9