Danish regulated gaming revenue grows 4.5% in Q1

Denmark’s regulated online gaming market has reported a 4.5% year-on-year increase in revenue for the first quarter of 2019, with growth in the online casino and sports betting verticals offsetting land-based declines.

Revenue for the three months through to March 31, 2019 amounted to DKK1.6bn (€214m/$239m), though this does not include figures for the country’s regulated lottery vertical. For the first time, Danish regulator Spillemyndigheden only provided figures for land-based and online casino, sports betting and gaming machines.

While sports betting was the best-performing vertical, with revenue up 10.3% from Q1 2018 to DKK619m, this represented a 6.8% month-on-month decline.

Of this total, mobile accounted for 51.3% of revenue, down marginally from Q4 2018, with bets placed via desktop computers accounting for a further 27.4% of the total and land-based wagering, contributing 21.3%. 

Online casino saw Q1 revenue grow 6.5% year-on-year to DKK556m, though this was only DKK1m (0.2%) above the total for Q4, 2018. Danish casino players continue to favour desktop gaming over mobile, with 56.2% of revenue coming via computers, compared to 43.8% from mobile devices.

Coming in a distant third were land-based gaming machines, which saw revenue drop 3.6% year-on-year to DKK346m. This revenue came largely from gaming halls, which generated 77.4% of the total, with the remaining 22.6% coming from machines installed in restaurants.

Denmark’s land-based casino market saw revenue fall 10.8% to DKK83m in Q1, with the country’s seven licensed venues generating average daily revenue of DKK962,310 over the period.

Spillemyndigheden also revealed that, as of March 31, a total of 18,100 people had signed up for its self-exclusion scheme, ROFUS. Of this number, 12,415 (68.6%) were permanently excluded from gambling, with a further 5,685 temporarily blocked from gambling.

Of these temporary suspensions, 19.8% (3,577 people) had self-excluded for six months, 8.4% (1,527) for three months and 3.2% (581) for one month.

The regulator’s problem gambling helpline also received 227 calls during the quarter, of which 119 were from players, 89 from an individual’s next of kin, and 19 from health professionals.