With final Q4 2024 figures now in, it’s been reported the Portugal online gambling market continues to rise – with the sector hitting a record high for the end of the year.
Portugal Online Gambling Sector Peaks With Record €323m Q4 Figures
Trends across most of Europe have continued to rise in recent years within the online sports betting world – and Portugal are the latest country to report a record growth in the sector.
This is due to a record €323m fourth quarter 2024 haul from a recent gambling news report in March that were released by the Portugal’s gambling regulator – the Gambling Regulation and Inspection Service.
The rise is also a 42.1% increase year-over-year – with the increases mainly due to powerful results in both the gaming and sports betting areas.
With just under 300 top-tier football clubs having had betting company sponsorship deals for the 2024/25 – with all Premier League UK teams and Dutch Eredivisie sides having at least one gambling related partnership.
Portugal is hot on their heels with top sportsbook Betano continuing to sponsor Benfica and Porto, while BetClic have a deal to back Liga Portugal till 2027.
It’s agreements like these that are helping the sports betting and online casino growth in the region.
Portugal Sports Betting Contributed €138.3m and Casino €184.6m To Q4 Rise
The €323m increase was split by €184.6m for the online casinos and gaming sector – that includes online slots and roulette – and showing a 20% annual increase, with sports betting netting €138.3m.
Over 300,000 New Online Sports Betting Registrations In Portugal
With this €323m Q4 record, it was also no shock to see player registrations surge – with a reported new 302,000 accounts set up during the final three months of 2024.
This increase has meant Portugal can now claim to have around 4.72m registered players heading into 2025 – with the figures expected to continue to rise
Of these 4.7m players, it was also stated that approximately 1.23m placed at least one bet – which was up 12% from the year-end in 2023.
Football Betting In Portugal Remains The Dominate Force
Of the various sports that online players wager on Portugal, it was football betting that led the way – making up a staggering 75% of the market share for all sports wagers in the country.
The Portugal Primeira Liga is, of course, one of the main areas of interest, but football bettors in the country have also been placing bets on the UEFA Champions League and the English Premier League – where a number of top Portuguese players ply their trade.
Slot Machines Lead The Way In The Portugal Gaming Sector
Switching to the gaming and casino sector, which saw a record €18406 Q4 2024 figure, it was online slots that was the cherry on the cake – making up just over 80% of the market share here.
Safe wagering and online responsible gambling tools were also reported to have increased – with over 292,000 players having opted in to self-exclude from platforms operation in Portugal – which was up 36% from the last quarter in 2023.
Portugal Bricks and Mortar Gambling Firms Also Continue To Rise
Despite the big growth in the Portuguese online gaming market, there was still some modest forward movement in land-based betting in the country.
Revenue here was up 12.5% year-on-year and hit €72.6m – but it’s worth pointing out this area remained 4.3% under the Q3 figures.
From the land-based Portugal sector it was the slot machines that hit the ‘jackpot’ – contributing €53.9m – while casino games and bingo chipped in with €18.8m. Which was up 36.9% from the previous year.
Of these casino games, the one area that is worth keeping an eye on in 2025 is American roulette as this came out as the highest-earning game and making up €6.9m of the €18.8m Q4 figure.
Andy is an experienced betting and gambling journalist with over 20 years industry experience. He brings an excellent knowledge of the world of sports betting and industry gambling news but is mainly regarded as horse racing expert within the betting world.
