Football betting surges thanks to major tournaments

Betting in Macau for football matches has registered an exponential hike by 93.7 percent in the second quarter (Q2) of this year, when compared with the first quarter (Q1), according to data published by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ).

The gross revenue from football betting in Q2 reached MOP244 million, that is, 93.7 percent more than Q1, when betting activity revenue amounted to MOP126 million.

Contributing to the results was not only the FIFA World Cup 2018, which started on June 14, but also the final stages of the most important European competitions (UEFA Europa League and Champions League), where the final matches were played in May.

Additionally, due to the FIFA World Cup, the betting results are likely to score well in the Q3 of this year, as the July results will be included.

In 2014 (when the previous World Cup was held), the betting results surged in comparison with the previous year by 42.7 percent to a total of MOP598 million in 2014. The same occurred in 2016 when the UEFA European Championship took place, leading to the results growing by 7.6 percent to MOP541 million.

Gambling in the casinos recorded a total of MOP73.7 billion in Q2 and closed the first half of the year with a total of MOP150.2 billion.

As it has become customary, a high proportion of revenue comes from baccarat (88.6 percent) or MOP133.1 billion with the highlight for VIP baccarat accountable for almost MOP84 billion. Both baccarat games registered similar drops over Q2 with a small VIP baccarat incident.

Greyhound racing also contributed to the growth, with a total of MOP12 million of revenue in Q2, almost 10 percent more than in Q1, ahead of its closure this week.