Online gaming revenue in Portugal reached a new quarterly high of €215.3m (£185.6m/$235.4m) in the third quarter, supported by record figures from the iGaming segment.

Total market sales in the three months ended September 30, 2023 exceeded the existing record of €122.0 million set in the second quarter by 4.6%. The figure for the third quarter was also 36.1% higher than the 158.2 million euros in Portugal in the same period of 2022.

Around 133.4 million euros of sales in the third quarter came from online gambling, which corresponds to an increase of 50.5% compared to the previous year. This was a new segment record and also accounted for 62.0% of all online gaming revenue in the quarter.

Consumers spent €3.65 billion on this form of gambling in the third quarter, an increase of 47.2% and another new record for Portugal. 82.3% of this total spending was on slot machines, 6.4% on French roulette and 6.2% on blackjack.

Online sports betting revenue in Portugal continues to decline

The overall increase in online revenue in Portugal comes despite a continued decline in the sports betting market.

Revenue from sports betting amounted to €81.9 million in the third quarter. That was 17.7% more than last year, but 2.5% less than the second quarter and the third consecutive quarter of decline.

Player spending on online sports betting increased by 12.1% year-on-year to €390.5 million. Of these, 71.4% of bets were on football, 22.2% on tennis and 6.4% on other sports.

The number of self-exclusions reached 196,600 in the third quarter

The third quarter figures were published by the Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ), the national gambling regulator in Portugal.

In addition to revenue, SRIJ also released other third-quarter data. This included 196,600 players self-excluding themselves from online gambling by the end of the third quarter, a 42.5% increase from the same point in 2022.

Around 205,200 new online registrations were now reported in the quarter. It was also reported that 97,800 accounts were terminated in the third quarter. At the end of the three-month period, there were 3.9 million active online gambling accounts in Portugal.

Additionally, the SRIJ said it ordered 23 websites to stop illegal operations in the third quarter.

Revenue from land-based gambling in Portugal is also increasing

Turning away from the online area towards the land-based area, sales in this segment also increased. In the third quarter, revenue from land-based gaming amounted to €76.1 million, an increase of 14.0% compared to the previous year.

Of this, 57.2 million euros came from physical slot machines, 1.0% more than in the previous year and 75.1% of all revenue in the third quarter. The other €18.9 million came from casino and bingo games – an increase of 35.6%.

Baccarat gaming generated revenue of €5.9 million in the third quarter, American roulette €5.8 million and blackjack €3.3 million.