The Portuguese gaming oversight body, the Service for Regulation and Inspection of Games (SRIJ), has published its quarterly gambling data, revealing a 7.7% surge in gamblers opting to self-exclude from gambling websites in the second quarter, despite a 23.1% decrease in new sign-ups from the previous quarter.
The number of new gamblers signing up in Portugal dropped considerably in the second quarter. While the quarterly decrease in new player registrations may be attributed to seasonal fluctuations, it still represents a 9.1% increase compared to the same period last year, bringing the total number of such players to 128,100.
This compares to 118,900 in the previous quarter and 93,600 in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the rise in the percentage of self-excluding players, while the overall player base is shrinking, may be a more concerning factor.
The percentage of self-excluding players now stands at 3.5% of the total number of registered players. Of the self-excluding players, 91.8% have chosen to opt out permanently.
Overall, online gaming and betting revenue reached €146.4 million (£123.6 million/$149.5 million), up 17.2% year-on-year but down 7.7% quarter-on-quarter. This compares to a 23.6% year-on-year increase in total gambling revenue in Portugal in the previous quarter.
Of the €146.4 million, €64.7 million came from sports betting activities, with the remaining €81 million coming from…
Digital wagering earnings hit €7 million.
Overall income from the online gambling special tax (IEJO) reached €44.9 million, a rise compared to the same period last year, which was €38.8 million.
The governing body also continued to take action against unlawful operators, reporting that in this quarter, the regulator issued 54 closure notices to websites, bringing the total number of notices issued since the SRIJ started recording information in 2015 to 980.
The governing body also blocked internet service providers for 34 websites, bringing the total number of blocked websites to 1,234.
The report also outlined the ongoing efforts to combat unlawful advertising: “Within its authority, the SRIJ also took steps to restrict advertising by unlicensed online gambling operators. To this end, the SRIJ carried out various monitoring and publicity campaigns. This resulted in the removal of 400 videos promoting illegal gambling websites (20 removed in the second quarter of 2022).”
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