Online gambling revenue has seen a 32 percent increase over 2015 for the first four months three months of 2016.
According to first quarter results released by Spanish gaming regulator Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling—and analyzed by PokerNews.com—total gross gaming revenues in Span’s regulated market increased by 32.15 percent from €77.42 million during the first quarter of 2015 to €102.32 million in the first quarter of this year. That’s also a 7.97 increase from the €94.76 million in GGR recognized during the fourth quarter of last year.
Total customer deposits increased with a reported €271.17 million in deposits during the first quarter of 2016, a nearly 40 percent increase from the €242.08 million in 2015 and a 12.02-percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2015.
The rise coincides with a noticeable increase in advertising expenditures by Spanish operators. Spanish online gaming operators invested €32.71 million in advertising during the most recent quarter, or a 46.06-percent increase from the €22.39 million spent in the same period a year ago and a similar 40.53-percent increase from the €23.27 million spent during the last quarter of 2015.
Online casino play showed a marked increase of 104.13 percent from €12.27 million during the first quarter of 2015 to €25.04 million during the first quarter of 2016. This also represented an increase of 10.62 percent from the €22.63 million in GGR recorded in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Online sports wagering also increased, albeit at a slower rate than that of online casino with €58.65 million in GGR for sports wagering in the first quarter of 2016, representing an increase of 29 percent from the same period a year ago and a 9.79-percent increase from the prior quarter.
Online poker, however, continued to struggle. Spanish online poker GGR declined by 12.03 percent from €16.81 million in the first quarter of 2015 to €14.79 million in the first quarter of 2016. That was a slight increase over the €14.56 million recorded during the fourth quarter of 2015.
