In its latest report for the second quarter of 2024, Portugal’s gambling regulator, Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ), brings to light a marked disparity in the performance of the nation’s gambling sectors. While there’s been a noticeable jump in online gambling with an impressive 27 percent increase in revenue, traditional land-based venues, including casinos and bingo halls, have faced notable declines.

Landbased

In the second quarter of 2024, Portuguese land-based casinos and gaming machines collectively generated approximately €63.7 million in gross revenue. Compared to the same period in 2023, there was a notable decline of 4.5 percent.

The downturn in overall revenue can be largely attributed to a significant decrease in banked games, which saw a dramatic 21.7 percent drop compared to Q2 2023. Banked games, including popular variants like Baccarat Punto Banco, Blackjack 21, and American Roulette, contributed about 19.95 percent of the total revenue. In contrast, non-banked games and automatic machines—accounting for 80.05 percent of the revenue—experienced revenue increases of 12.1 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

In bingo halls, the second quarter of 2024 also saw a decrease in gross revenue by 6.1 percent compared to the preceding quarter.

Online gambling

On the contrary, for online gambling in Portugal, the total gross revenue surged to €261.8 million, marking an impressive 27.1 percent increase from the same period the previous year.

Within this sector, sports betting contributed €103.3 million, representing a 23.1 percent increase compared to Q2 2023. Games of chance generated €158.5 million, a substantial 29.9 percent increase from the previous year.

Sports betting made up 39.5 percent of the total gross revenue, while gaming accounted for 60.5 percent. Football was the dominant category in sports betting, comprising nearly 70 percent of the total bets. Tennis and basketball followed, making up approximately 20 percent and 7 percent of the sports betting total.

Among games of chance, slot machines were the most popular, contributing 82.3 percent of the total revenue.

The online gambling market also saw an impressive rise in player registrations. The total number of registered players reached 4.4 million, a 16.2 percent increase from the previous year. New registrations surged by 51.2 percent, reaching 287,600, while self-excluded players increased by 41.5 percent, indicating a growing awareness of gambling risks.