The Spanish betting sector was once again hampered by low sports betting margins in Q2, with operators keeping less than 2.5% of stakes for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Overall gambling revenue in the country came to €203.9m [$206.4m]. This was down 5.6% year-on-year, despite overall stakes rising by 8.3% to €7.12bn.

Sports betting revenue remained low at €60.9m, which was down 33.8% year-on-year and down by 6.7% from Q1.

Yet again, the reason for the low sports betting revenue was poor margins. Betting stakes – at €2.81bn, were up by 5.0% year-on-year. This meant that the margin for sportsbook operators was only 2.2% – the fourth consecutive quarter in which it was below 2.5%.