Spanish gambling sector has 25% growth in GGR

The Spanish gambling sector has constantly been growing for the last few years. The rise of digital technologies helped the gambling sector around the world become more attractive for different kinds of players. Now it takes seconds to find an online casino where you can immediately create an account and start betting on real money. Gambling is a very popular activity nowadays, but some countries are better at doing it than others. Spain is one good example as it has grown nearly 300% since 2014.

You might have come across different articles saying that The Spanish online casino market is booming and has reached its peak in 2020. Yes, it is definitely true and it has been confirmed by the Spanish gambling authority, who revealed a 2020 financial report of Spain’s gambling activity.

What does the report say?

According to the report, Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) was up to 230 million euros in the last quarter of 2020. GGR is a key metric used by different gambling companies, which represents the difference between the amount that was wagered and the amount that was won. Considering this amount, Spain has witnessed a 24% rise compared to 2019.
The analysis of Gross Gaming Revenue shows that 44.7% of the total amount was used for betting,  42.3% for casinos and the rest was for poker, bingo, and contests.
Spanish casinos witnessed a 19.5% rise in the final quarter of 2020. Roulette and slot are games that had a big rise but they couldn’t beat live roulette – gaining the most and consequencing in 41.6% rise. Sounds crazy, right? Poker was also among one of the games, that managed to have a huge increase – 24.4%.
In conclusion, the numbers seem to be fascinating. Online gambling alone accounted for around 22 billion euros in Spain, increasing by 15% from last year.

What catalyzed the growth process?

Most of you may wonder the reason behind such big growth, especially in conditions, where the country’s overall economic growth has slowed. The fast development of smartphones and online games has played a huge part in the popularity of online gambling.

Right now, individuals can play anytime and anywhere if they have their mobile phones with them. In addition, researches show that most people watch sports on their digital devices. Betting sites are just a few clicks away, you might even see a pop-up ad on your mobile screen to tempt you.
The taxes in the Spanish gambling industry was high just a few years ago and that’s why the Government decided to lower them. This decision surely did have a good impact on the consumption of online casinos. In 2018, the taxes were reduced from 25 to 20 percent.

The large international online betting companies, together with Spain’s domestic firms have also played a big part in the process of market growth. Suertia, one of the first online gambling companies in Spain, has attracted a big number of new players by offering top-quality games, including live events. Different sport news outlets have also launched online bookmakers in an attempt to gain benefits from this growing industry.

Different gambling operators have been actively advertising their products to complement this enormous growth. The numbers for marketing activities are the following: Marketing spending has increased by 24.2% in 2020 – nearly 200 million euros were spent on advertising, while marketing activities in total amounted to 462 million euros.