Gambling deposits in Denmark significantly decreased during the country’s coronavirus lockdown, according to data from Spillemyndigheden (the Danish Gambling Authority).
Land-based outlets were ordered to close on 11th March, while a number of major sporting events were cancelled during the same month.
It’s believed that the drop in sports is what fuelled the number of deposits, with players not taking much of an interest in casino games.
Denmark’s regulator has also revealed gambling figures Q1 2020, which signalled a 5% year-on-year decline.
What was the exact drop in player interest?
According to Spillemyndigheden’s findings, deposits at regulated betting operators went down by 60% between 9th March and 3rd May – compared to the same period last year.
It’s expected that this drop isn’t going to stop until sports start filling up the calendar again.
Despite the above, online casino deposits actually increased by 2% year-on-year. But according to the regulator, this could be attributed to the vertical’s natural growth and not a sudden surge in activity.
When it came to player protection, ROFUS – which is the country’s self-exclusion register – has stayed stable with fewer than 23,000 registrations as of 1st May. Moreover, the StopSpillet gambling helpline received fewer calls between March and April 2020 – compared to 2019.
Spillemyndigheden Director Morten Jakobsen spoke about these findings and suggested that coronavirus player safety plans have worked so far.
He said: “It very much looks like some of the measures that have been put in place in connection with the lockdown of Denmark has had an effect on parts of the gambling market – particularly on betting, land-based casinos and gaming machines.
“Although it is still too soon to measure the full effect of the coronavirus crisis on the gambling market, it does not appear as if the decrease in gambling at land-based casinos and gaming machines as well as betting has caused an increase in gambling on online casinos.”
Q1 2020 figures are also out
As one might expect, COVID-19 impacted gambling in the Scandinavian country. Overall market revenue totalled 1.53 billion Danish Kroner (£181.8 million) in the first three months of 2020. This was 5% lower than the same time period last year and also a decrease on Q4 2019’s figures.
Sports betting, however, actually went up year-on-year. Totalling DKK 635 million (£74.48 million), growth in this vertical was 2.6% more than in the opening three months of 2019.
The regulator’s claims that players weren’t taking an increased interest in online casino games during the pandemic was reinforced by the vertical’s 1% revenue decline. Operators in this field generated DKK 555 million (£65.9 million).
1,600 new ROFUS sign-ups were recorded in Q1 2020. 22,630 people have joined this scheme in total, 15,403 of which have chosen to permanently exclude themselves from gambling activity.
A low of 35 StopSpillet calls were noted in March, with 157 over the full quarter. This figure decreased with each passing month.
