The Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ), the gambling regulator in Portugal, has cited a hike in sports betting activity as one of the main reasons behind a year-on-year rise in online gaming revenue during the third quarter.
For the three months through to September 30, overall online gambling revenue in the country amounted to €29.3m ($34.7m), which represents an increase of 21.5% on the corresponding quarter last year.
Sports betting revenue in Q3 came in at €16.3m, which is 16.6% more than in the second quarter of the current year.
The SRIJ put this increase down to the return of the club football season, with the sport accounting for almost 78% of all online sports betting in the three-month period.
Incidentally, the €7.1m in sports revenue generated in September is just short of the yearly peak of €7.3m set back in January.
Elsewhere, online casino revenue, including poker activity, amounted to €13.1m in the third quarter, which is 15% more than in the second quarter of the current year, put less than the opening three months of 2017.
Slots remain the main source of income in the Portuguese online casino market, with such gaming activity responsible for 42% of internet casino revenue in Q3.
For the year-to-date, to the end of September, total online betting revenue came in at €86.3m, with sports betting at €47.7m and online casino €38.4m.
The Portuguese online gambling market is only set to expand as the SRIJ awards more licence to operators.
Last month, the SRIJ granted its ninth online gambling licence Casino Portugal, with Sociedade Figueira Praia, a Portuguese land-based casino operator, to operate an internet casino site under its existing Casino Portugal brand.
