As reported by iGaming Business, Poland’s regulated sports betting industry fell victim to COVID-19 impacts with its tax contribution falling 10% to PLN343.4m (£70.7m) in the first six months of 2020 following the sporting calendar reduction.
The market report also revealed that the COVID-19 impacts were particularly pronounced in the second quarter of the year, with total gambling and lottery tax for the three months to 30 June falling 27% to PLN188.6m.
That said, Polish sports betting operator association Graj Legalnie has stated that this second quarter period saw STS grow its market share to approximately 50%, which in turn represents a 4% improvement on Q2 2019. Moreover, according to the association, this movement provides proof that the business had successfully adapted to the circumstances.
Fortuna Entertainment saw a decline of around 7% to roughly 25% of market share for the same period, with Forbet followed in third, having increased its market share by 1% to 7%.
LV Bet, Betclic Everest Group’s Betclic brand and Betfan followed with each registering roughly 3% of second quarter revenue, while E-Toto, Totolotek, Totalbet, Superbet, Ewinner, Pzbuk and Noblebet collectively accounted for the remaining 9% of the market share.
In addition to the significant suspension of sporting events resulting from the COVID disruption, Graj Legalnie stated that the 12% turnover tax further aggregated the ‘chronic unprofitability’ of the industry for unestablished incumbents.
As a result of these impacts, an accelerated shift to online is now expected, with some bookmakers having already generated as much as 85% of revenue on the digital medium.
