Foreign Sportsbooks Set Up Shop in Spain

Spain is home to some of the internet’s most enthusiastic and frequent online bettors, who currently dominate the online sportsbooks as customers. Yet while online wagering is blossoming, offline sportsbook have only just recently hit the streets of Spain, bringing with them an industry boom.
The first ever sportsbooks company was opened in Madrid this week following a joint cooperation between world renowned William Hill and Codere, the most recognized Spanish gaming company.

It has been found in recent studies that Spanish gamblers bet more collectively than any other European country, and the addition of land-based sportsbooks is expected to only increase this in both domains. The current amount of wagers per year made by the Spanish adult at online sportsbooks is one thousand dollars, and this amount too is increasing due to legalized soccer betting. Market experts of the sportsbooks industry expect that this will rise to a total of $60 billion by the year 2010.

Aside from betting at sportsbooks, Spain is also home to the world’s largest lottery draw. Run by the state, the Spanish Christmas lottery handed out more than $3.5 billion of winnings in last December. In addition, Spanish sportsbooks are also offering betting on popular television shows such as American Idol, yet betting on religion and politics remains illegal.

William Hill was the first of the foreign sportsbooks to get its foot in the door, yet many others are hot on their heels. Among them Intralot from Greece, Ladbrokes, and a range of Austrian companies.