- Online poker revenue in Q1 2021 in the regulated Spanish market hit just shy of €25 million, market data just released from the regulator reveals.
- Online poker tournaments continue to outperform cash games, representing almost three quarters of the market in terms of revenue, a shift of some 7% on Q1 last year.
- In other igaming verticals, sports betting was flat, basically retaining the market high of €111 million set in Q1 2020.
Online poker revenue in Q1 2021 in the regulated Spanish market hit just shy of €25 million, according to market data released by Spain’s gaming regulator. It represents slight growth of 3.1% on the same quarter last year.
This figure is impressive given that the market is starting to lap the pandemic-fueled online poker mini-boom of last year. The picture is clearer in the monthly figures, which show strong growth in January (30%) and February (17%) almost all but wiped out with March down 26%.
Still, it indicates that there is underlying growth in the Spanish online poker market, and while Q2 2021 will almost certainly be down 30% or more—there was a dramatic surge in Q2 2020, the market almost doubling in size—it suggests the market remains on strong footing.
Online poker tournaments continue to outperform cash games, representing almost three quarters of the market in terms of revenue, a shift of some 7% on Q1 last year. For Q1 2021 overall, cash was down 18%, extending the trend observed on the year pre-pandemic; tournaments were up 14%.
In fact, for the very first time in market history, there were more “wagers placed” in tournaments (entry fees collected) than there were in cash games (bets made)—€349 million to €344 million.
In other igaming verticals, sports betting was flat, basically retaining the market high of €111 million set in Q1 2020. Casino continued its near-unbroken upward trajectory, with quarterly revenue hitting an all-time high of €99.5 million, growth of 28%.
Total online gambling revenue hit €240 million, up 10% and a new all-time high. Q1 also hit a new total for newly registered igaming accounts at 1.3 million, with the cumulative sum of accounts hitting 66.5 million.
Active accounts also reached an all-time high, with 3.4 million customers considered active in Q1.
