Online gambling revenue hit an all-time high of €195.3m (£173.0m/$213.0m) in Portugal during the fourth quarter of 2022, with record performances across both the sports betting and casino sectors.
Gross revenue for the three months to 31 December 2022 was 39.7% higher than €139.8m in the corresponding period of the previous year and also 23.4% more than the previous quarterly record of €158.2m set in Q3 of 2022.
Online casino
Casino was the primary source of revenue during the quarter, generating €109.8m in total revenue, up 48.3% year-on-year and 23.8% quarter-on-quarter, according to regulator the Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ).
Consumers spent €2.98bn playing online casino in Q4, up 42.1% from the previous year’s total and also a new record for the country’s market.
Slot machines were by far the most popular form of online casino, attracting 79.8% of all bets, with French roulette a distant second with 8.5% of bets and blackjack 5.5%.
Sports betting
Turning to the sports betting market and revenue was 30.0% higher year-on-year at €85.5m, with this also surpassing the previous quarterly record of €69.6m set in Q3 of 2022 by 22.9%.
Player spending reached an all-time high of €458.7m, an increase of 21.6% on the Q4 2021 total, with football drawing 74.2% of all bets, basketball 12.5%, tennis 7.6% and other sports 5.7%.
Breaking down football betting activity, the 2022 Fifa World Cup represented 25.0% of all wagers, with the Uefa Champions League at 7.4%, Portuguese Primeira Liga 6.9% and the English Premier League 6.4%.
Wider market
Other statistics published by the SRIJ included that by the end of Q4, 340,000 new players had registered with licensed operators in the country, with 60.0% of these aged between 25 and 44.
The number of self-excluded players grew by 41,500 year-on-year to reach 150,900 at the end of the quarter.
In addition, the SRIJ said 54 notices of closure were issued to illegal operators during Q4, while 74 blocking orders were issued for such websites.