Colombias gaming oversight body, Coljuegos, announced that the gaming sector produced a total income of 19.48 trillion Colombian pesos (approximately 36.8 billion pounds/42.9 billion euros/50.3 billion dollars) in the initial six months of 2021.
This figure signifies a 99.3% surge compared to the sales of 9.77 trillion Colombian pesos in the first half of 2020.
The regulatory body also disclosed that internet gaming expanded by 148% year-over-year in the initial six months of 2021, while online gaming revenue for the entirety of 2020 was 8.30 trillion Colombian pesos (around 15 billion pounds/18 billion euros/21 billion dollars).
Jhon Jairo Altamiranda, Coljeugos’ Vice President of Commerce, conveyed optimism about this expansion continuing into the latter half of the year at the GAT Expo.
“We anticipate that in the second half of 2021, this trend will persist at the same sales pace, establishing itself as a significant strength in the market for our industry.”
Cesar Augusto Valencia Galiano, President of Coljuegos, who assumed office in November 2020, discussed the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sector.
“We have encountered challenging times, we have faced uncontrollable factors that have influenced the industry,” Galiano stated.
In this setting, we are collaborating closely with industry organizations and operators to stimulate economic revival.
Furthermore, Galiano highlighted that sports wagering has experienced a downturn in the past year due to the postponement of competitions. This decrease was balanced by the widespread appeal and expanding market share of Random Number Generator (RNG) games.
“As a result of the postponement of national and international sporting events, there has been a substantial surge in the participation of RNG games,” stated Galiano.
“Consequently, players devoted to online gaming had no alternative but to engage in RNG games, which resulted in an expansion of their market share.”
Last week, Coljuegos conducted raids on seven illegal gambling establishments.
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