Spain will award new online gambling licences

The Direccion General de Ordenacion del Juego (DGOJ) said it will soon begin accepting new applications for online gambling operators interested in the Spanish market.

It is understood those interested will have a window of a year to submit their application, and will be told whether they have been successful within six months.

The DGOJ said it decided to invite new applications after receiving expressions of interest from international operators who have yet to enter the market.

Spain’s online gambling market has grown significantly in recent years, growing by more than 10% year-on-year in the first half of 2017.

Looking at the Spanish market data, Christian Tirabassi, senior partner at Ficom Leisure, told iGB: “During the second quarter of 2017, the online casino segment has strengthened while sports betting has been falling in terms of GGR. This is due to the occurrence of certain events such as the end of the football leagues or the last qualifying rounds, including the final of the Champions League.

“Overall, the Spanish online casino and betting industry is behaving positively and the data shows its stable evolution, achieving a GGR growth rate of 23%. In the first half of 2017 GGR was €248m compared with €201m in the first half of 2016.”