Portugal’s online gambling industry has reportedly hit a major milestone in terms of its revenue. In the final quarter of 2024, it brought in a record-breaking €323 million ($366 million) in gross revenue, according to the country’s gambling regulator. That’s a 42.1% jump compared to the same time last year.
The Portuguese Gambling Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ) say the boost came from strong performance in both key areas of the market.
Já publicados os Relatórios de atividade de jogo no 4.º trimestre de 2024 em Portugal 📊 Saiba mais em: https://t.co/IpCtfb405y
— SRIJ (@SRIJogos) March 17, 2025
Sports drives Portugal’s online gambling revenue
Sports betting pulled in €138.3 million ($157 million), which is a 90% increase from the year before. Games of chance like slots and roulette brought in €184.6 million ($209 million), rising nearly 20% from the previous year.
There was also a big increase in player activity. Over 302,000 new player accounts were created during the quarter, pushing the total number of registered players to almost 4.72 million. Around 1.23 million of those placed bets, which is up about 12% compared to the end of 2023.
At the same time, more people are making use of responsible gambling tools. By the end of the year, more than 292,000 players had self-excluded from gambling platforms, which is a 36% rise from the year before.
Football continues to be the top choice for sports bettors, making up 75% of all sports wagers. The UEFA Champions League, Portugal’s Primeira Liga, and the English Premier League were especially popular. In the online casino space, slot machines dominated the action, accounting for over 80% of all bets.
A study reported by ReadWrite in March found that almost 300 of the top clubs signed partnerships with sports betting firms for the 2024/25 season. All Premier League and Dutch Eredivisie sides are found to have some form of betting partner for the campaign, with Portugal being a prominent market.
Land-based gambling
When it comes to land-based gambling, revenue saw a solid increase, up 12.5% compared to the same time last year, reaching €72.6 million ($82.2 million). That said, it’s still 4.3% lower than what was brought in during Q3.
Slot machines continued to do the heavy lifting, pulling in €53.9 million ($61 million) in Q4, which is a 4.8% jump from the previous year. The remaining €18.8 million ($21.3 million), up a strong 36.9%, came from casino-style games and bingo.
Among those, American roulette was the top earner, bringing in €6.9 million ($7.8 million). Every part of this segment saw year-on-year growth.
Featured image: Canva
