SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Poland’s latest tax data published by the Ministry of Finance revealed that gambling industry tax revenues (betting and lottery segments) for the first half of 2020 declined by 10% to PLN 343 million (€75m).
Tracking regulated sports betting activities during a disrupted Q2 period, Polish legal gaming association ‘Graj Legalnie’ estimated that Poland’s licensed bookmakers registered tax revenues of PLN 139 million (€31m), representing a 27% decline on PLN 189 million (€42m).
As a consequence, Graj Legalnie stated that bookmaker STS has strengthened its position as market leader, taking a 50% share of the regulated Polish sports betting marketplace revenues.
Matched against Q2 2019 comparatives, Graj Legalnie data sees Warsaw-based STS increase its market share to 50%. Nearest rival Czech betting group Fortuna Entertainment declined by a reported 7% and now maintains 25% of all regulated polish sports betting revenues.
Meanwhile, having increased its market share by 1%, Polish legacy bookmaker Forbet remains Poland’s third-largest sportsbook entity, generating 7% of marketplace revenues.
Poland’s remaining sportsbook marketplace is divided by a roster of new and legacy incumbents competing to service a restrictive marketplace which has operated a 12% turnover wagering tax since 2017.
In its report, Graj Legalnie underlined that COVID-19 impacts have illustrated the ‘chronic unprofitability of bookmakers’, except for established incumbents.
The Polish association detailed that STS was able to match new conditions imposed on consumers: “As the data from the Association suggest, STS has best adapted to the new conditions and, in difficult market circumstances, was able not only to retain its leadership but also to strengthen it,” it said.
Despite its market dominance, STS has remained critical of the Polish Treasury’s restrictive wagering tax on licensed incumbents – a factor which it believes has reduced the market’s capacity since 2017.
This August, Mateusz Juroszek, owner and CEO of STS, told SBC that the Polish betting group remained undeterred from its aggressive European market expansion strategy despite pandemic circumstances, having reached peak operating capacity within its home market.
Graj Legalnie – Polish Regulated Sportsbook Market Revenue – H1 2020
