Swedish online casino provider NetEnt announced today that it will launch table games in Spain to celebrate its second anniversary in the regulated market.
Going live in Spain in June 2015, the company has been working with some of the leading operators to be servicing local gambling customers, with some of those being PokerStars, 888, bet365, and bwin. The table games package will include desktop and mobile versions of roulette and blackjack.
Commenting on the latest announcement, NetEnt Malta Ltd. Managing Director Enrico Bradamante said in a press release from earlier today that online gaming is growing positively in Spain and that the market with its great future potential is particularly important to NetEnt and its own development as a leading online casino supplier.
The announcement about NetEnt expanding its operations in Spain comes mere days after the company announced that it was entering the Serbian online gambling market. The Swedish provider went live with its online casino games after successfully completing their integration with local gambling operator Mozzart.
Evolution of the Spanish Online Gambling Market
NetEnt together with other leading international gambling companies have participated actively in the formation and development of the Spanish iGaming market. Spain opened its market for regulated operations in June 2012, when first iGaming licenses were granted to interested applicants.
At first, Spain-facing gambling companies were only allowed to provide table games, online poker, and sports betting. In 2014, the country’s government amended existing gambling laws to allow online slots and exchange betting. The new regulations took effect in June 2015 and over 20 licensed operators went live with slot titles.
Spain hoped that online slots would give the local market a much-needed boost, just as they had previously done in Italy. The games quickly turned into an important part of the market and delivered on growth expectations.
As seen in reports compiled by the Spanish gambling regulator – Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) – online slots quickly turned into one of the leading online casino verticals in the local market. Figures showed that revenue from slots in the second quarter of 2015, when they were launched in Spain, totaled €1.2 million. It increased 292.75% in the third quarter of that year to €5.85 million.
What is more, revenue from slot games represented the second biggest share of the country’s online casino market, trailing only behind roulette, revenue from which totaled €8.58 million in the three months ended September 30, 2015.
Online slots have remained the second largest segment for the past two years as figures from DGOJ have shown. During the first quarter of 2017, this type of offering generated €13.68 million. In comparison, revenue from online roulette offering totaled €13.69 million.
Overall, Spain’s gambling market was worth €122.66 million in the first quarter of the year, up 19.89% year-on-year. Revenue from online poker totaled €15.14 million. The country’s online casino segment generated the amount €32.53 million, slots an roulette included. Sports betting claimed the local market’s largest share, with revenue totaling €71.61 million. Online bingo games contributed €2.36 million to the iGaming and betting bulk.
