Latvia Sets New Record With Online Gambling Revenue

• Latvia has made a record on revenue for gambling due to the money made through online wagers.
• The country has slowing been banning outside internet casinos from doing business with its citizens.
• This ban has brought more money into the country from revenue on bets placed at Latvian online casinos.

NEW YORK – Latvia has set a new record for internet gambling profits in 2019. The country has made a point to try and stop outside gaming companies from being offered to their citizens in order for their own online casinos to profit.

The strategy seems to be working as they made €307 million in revenue for 2019 from a combined land-based and online viewpoint. That’s an over a 10% increase from their 2018 numbers.

Gambling Domination Within Their Own Country

The biggest moneymaker for Latvia continues to be the slot machines that are available at land-based facilities. Over three-quarters of total gambling revenue came from the slots. They brought in €231.6 million last year.

The next highest to generate revenue were the 14 internet casinos that made €54.7 million. The online casino breakdown in revenue went like this: Casino games made €39.3 million while sports betting made €14.9 million and poker had a revenue of €423 thousand. Casino games at local businesses made €17.3 million, while local sportsbooks acquired €3.2m and bingo made €232 thousand for the year.

Internet gaming spiked for 2019 because Latvia’s Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Inspection of Latvia (IAUI) are continuing their efforts to keep all gambling by their residents within the country. This way, their economy, and their country’s businesses have a chance to thrive. Since 2014, they have banned a total of 1,206 online casinos from operating with gamblers in Latvia. Their operations are considered to be illegal in the country if any have slipped through the cracks and try to do business.

While the country wants to continue to make money from gambling, they also want to pull back a bit as gambling addiction has become a problem. They have over 5,400 people who have voluntarily signed up to be blocked from engaging in any betting activities. Latvia would also like to limit the number of local casinos in certain areas of the country.

With the idea of keeping the online gambling business of their people to themselves, Latvia has done well in the revenue department. Their country is benefitting from this strategy. No money spent on wagering goes to outside businesses and profits the people of Latvia and the operators instead. That’s definitely a smart way to go about the gambling market to allow both the country and gamblers get the most out of the market as possible.