The popularity of online casinos continues to rise in Portugal!

Online gamers in Portugal will be delighted to hear that popularity of online casinos in the country shows no sign of slowing down. Another online gambling license has been awarded to a Portuguese land based casino operator by the country’s regulatory body, the SRIJ. Siciedade Figueira Praia will become the ninth license holder that is permitted to offer online casino services in Portugal. Portuguese online gamers will be delighted to hear that they now have more variation when choosing an online casino operator.

Important development in the online casino industry

The decision to award another online casino license is viewed as being a positive breakthrough for the industry in Portugal. Sociedade Figueira Praia have been planning to expand into the online gambling market, after the company received their online sports betting licence back in June of this year. The casino’s parent company, Amorim Turismo, will be delighted that the casino has obtained an online casino license. The company had been performing well this year and this development should see them improve upon their growth. Sociedade Figueira Praia will offer online games to their online customers which have been developed by world renowned developers such as NetEnt and ISoftBet.

The Portuguese online casino market is relatively new as it has only been around since June of last year. It has been reported that the market has reported its’ first quarterly decline in revenue for the period of April to June of 2017. Despite this setback, the SRIJ has taken the decision to back the industry by issuing another online casino industry. It is reported that online casino operators in the country are not particularly happy with some of the regulations bestowed upon them by those in charge. Other Portuguese online casino operators feel that there are heavy tax burdens which they have to deal with. These heavy tax burdens are partly the reason why the industry has seen a decline in recent times. As a result of the issues, some online casino operators, such as Betclic, have had to consider their withdrawal from Portugal.

The scenario looks to be in a better position for online poker, however, as there is just one site which offers online poker in Portugal. PokerStars is the only online poker operator in the country as there are currently no competitors who are willing to challenge their dominance as of right now.

Online casino operators hoping to develop further

Online casino operators will be hoping to fare as well as their land-based counterparts in Portugal. Land-based casinos seen a hugely successful rise in revenue for the second quarter of 2017, despite the online casino industry having some setbacks. There was a reported revenue of €75.2 million for the period, which is a 6.7% year on year increase. Electronic gaming machines appear to be all the rage in Portugal, as there was a total income of €61.6 million from them alone.

The online casino industry in Portugal will be hoping for the same good fortune for the rest of 2017!