Part 2: Portugal by numbers
English Premier League 5.4%.
In the second quarter, the biggest
single event was the football World
Cup, which was worth 20% of all
bets placed over the period. The
tail end of the domestic leagues
saw the Portuguese Primeira Liga
garner 7.2% of all bets and Spain’s
La Liga 5%.
It is worth noting that in both the
first and second quarters, around
half (the regulator doesn’t give
percentages for all competitions)
of all bets were made on football
outside of the main national and
European competitions. It is a fair
guess this reflects the popularity
of in-play betting outside of the
main days/hours for all mainstream
competitions.
Likewise, with regard to tennis
betting the regulatory information
shows that while big tournaments at
the French Open and the Madrid and
Rome Opens attracted 17.3%, 7.9%
and 7.4%, respectively, of all tennis
bets placed, two-thirds of all bets
were placed on lesser tournaments.
Gaming breakdown
A growth pattern is clearly more
easily defined in the gaming sector,
although with dips in the first half of
last year and – only slightly – in the
first quarter of 2018 (see Chart 9).
The year-on-year growth rate for
the second quarter of 47% reflects
the size of the dip in the same
period last year. Still, the year-on-
year growth average for the past
three quarters has been nearly 44%,
which is likely unsustainable when
the comparatives get tougher later
this year.
However, the suggestion is
Chart 7: Sports betting by sport 2Q18
Others 4%
Basketball 7%
Tennis 14%
Football 75%
Source: SRIJ
Chart 8: sports betting by sport 1Q18
Others 2%
Ice hockey 3%
Basketball 10%
Tennis 10%
Football 75%
Source: SRIJ
Chart 9: Portugal online gaming GGR 3Q16-2Q18 (€m)
18.0
16.0
14.0
12.0
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0
3Q16
4Q16
1Q17
2Q17
3Q17
4Q17
1Q18
2Q18
Source: SRIJ
Portugal: The challenges and potential in one of Europe’s most controversial markets
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