Portugal gov’t claws back half of online gambling market revenue

Portugal’s regulated online gambling market may have had a hard time attracting interest from operators, but the government is ensuring it’s getting its pound of flesh regardless.

Portugal issued its first official online gambling license to French operator Betclic Everest in May 2016. Since then, only five more licenses have been issued, and some of those have been issued to the same operators for different online gambling products. There are currently only four separate companies legally plying their trade online in Portugal.

Last week, the Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ) regulatory body issued its first official quarterly report on how its online market is faring. The report covers not only the first three months of 2017 but also the second half of 2016.

The SRIJ says its licensees – two sports betting, three casino, one poker – generated revenue of over €31m in Q1 2017. That’s 13.7% higher than the €27m that five licensees earned in Q4 2016, which was itself up from €24m that three licensees earned in Q3. In its first 10 months of existence, Portugal’s regulated market has generated revenue of €82.2m.