Citizens contributed 320 billion rubles to bookmakers in the quarter

At the end of the third quarter, the volume of the bookmaker market in the Russian Federation amounted to 320 billion rubles, an increase over the year of 45%, as calculated in the Bookmaker Rating. Bookmakers estimate year-on-year growth at 20-30%, noting that the third quarter was full of sporting events. Experts also point to the final adaptation to sanctions realities, inflation and the regulator’s fight against illegal players, which benefits the legal market.

The volume of deposits from the legal sector of the bookmaker market in the third quarter amounted to about 320 billion rubles, 45% more than in the same quarter last year, experts from the analytical portal Bookmaker Rating calculated for Kommersant. At the end of 2022, the volume of deposits for the year increased by 22.1%, to RUB 884.5 billion. (See “Kommersant” dated July 4).

Bookmakers estimate the quarterly growth somewhat more modestly, but the trend is confirmed. According to Betcity, in the third quarter, year-on-year, the market grew by about 30%; the company did not disclose absolute figures. “We see similar figures in terms of the volume of targeted contributions from bookmaker companies to support Russian sports from the ERAI (payments collected by the Unified Gambling Regulator; the money is distributed between federations and leagues.— “Kommersant”),” added Betcity representative Rustem Akmalov. Fonbet agrees with the estimates: “In nominal terms, the market grew by 30%.” A BetBoom representative noted: “We estimate that the market has grown by more than 20%, based on the volume of targeted contributions from all bookmakers for the development of sports for the third quarter of 2022 and 2023. However, the exact percentage will be known based on the results of studies that will be carried out in 2024.” The company added that market growth is also confirmed by advertising expenses on television deals with Match TV, sponsorship contracts of clubs, etc.

The third quarter is traditionally full of sporting events, Rustem Akmalov explains the reasons for the growth of the bookmaker market: “After the summer off-season, the Russian Premier Football League, top European championships, European cups, important matches of national teams in qualifying tournaments, the Continental Hockey League and other popular sports competitions returned. In the third quarter, we supported five major tournaments at once.”

The main drivers of growth in the bookmaker market include the final adaptation of the market to the sanctions realities, general inflation, as well as new bonus programs and the development of new bookmaker products, says Olga Baran, an expert on the Bookmaker Rating portal: “For example, the number of bookmakers accepting bets on quick competitions has increased — table tennis, darts, etc., now it’s possible to accept bets on backgammon.” She also noted that every month the audience of bookmakers is replenished with new players from among young people who have reached the age of 18. ERAI is also actively fighting the illegal gambling sector, Olga Baran recalled, and “this factor is also one of the reasons for the growth in turnover of legal operators.”

In many ways, the growth and opportunity for the industry to develop is the merit of ERAI, Fonbet noted: “At the recent Gambling forum, ERAI announced its expectation to receive 17–18 billion rubles. target contributions by the end of 2023.” The company added that these numbers “look realistic.” This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to increase the share of funds allocated for the development of sports from targeted allocations from lotteries, noting that “there is potential for targeted allocations for sports from bookmaking activities” (see Kommersant on October 19).

Yulia Yurasova, Yulia Tishina