Online casino up in Portugal as sports betting flattens

Portugal has reported a year-on-year increase in igaming revenue during the first quarter of the year, due in part to a rise in online casino.

Total online gaming revenue for the three months to March 31 totalled €33.8m ($40.4m), which is €2.5m more than in the corresponding period last year, but down €2.7m on the final quarter of 2017.

Figures from national gambling regulator Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ) also showed that online casino revenue was up by 18% year-on-year to €16.4m.

Slots were responsible for 55.7% of online casino revenue in the first quarter, with poker holding an 18.6% market share and French roulette on 16.1% and blackjack 9.6%.

However, while online sports betting remained the main source of revenue with a total of €17.4m for the period, this amount was flat year-on-year and down by more than €3m on the last quarter of 2017.

Football accounted for over three-quarters of total online sports betting revenue, with basketball some way behind in second with a 10.6% and then tennis with 9.6%.

Related article: Portugal posts €122.6m in online revenue for first full year