Lithuania’s Online Gaming Growth Fails to Offset Land-based Decline in 2020

Lithuania’s regulated gambling market saw revenue decline in 2020, despite a 47.1% jump in online gaming revenue mitigating much of the country’s land-based struggles.

Total revenue across all verticals and channels declined 8.1% year-on-year to €103.5m, with the online advances accompanied by a 39.1% drop in land-based revenue to €43.9m.

With customers confined to their homes between March and May as a result of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, igaming participating grew sharply. Total customer spends surpassed $1bn, a 64.3% year-on-year increase, while total revenue grew to €59.6m.

Category A slots were the primary source of online revenue, after the product’s total almost doubled year-on-year to €29.4m.

Despite major sporting events being suspended between March and mid-May as a result of Covid-19, sports betting contributed the second-largest share of any vertical. Betting revenue was up 10.5% to €26.5m, on stakes of €444.1m, a 5.2% improvement on 2019.

Online table game revenue soared, albeit from a low base, to €1.9m, while revenue from Category B slots was up 47.4% to €1.2m.

After Covid-19 pandemic forced in-person facilities to shut their doors from 16 March to 17 May, Lithuania’s land-based market struggled, however.

Customer stakes across all products fell 39.5% below the prior year’s total, to €288.6m.

Category B slots – which limit stakes to €0.50 per spin and have win amounts capped at 200 times the original stake – made up the majority of revenue for the year, at €20.3m, down 37.9%

Table games followed, though again revenue fell, to €10.2m. Category A slot revenue – with uncapped stakes and winnings – dropped 36.1% to €7.8m.

Retail sports betting’s contribution, meanwhile was almost halved, to €5.7m. Not only did the sector face the Covid-19 shutdown, but also saw most major sporting events suspended as a result of the pandemic.

The country’s national lottery Olifėja also reported a year-on-year decline in revenue for 2020. Ticket sales fell 6.7% to €106.3m, and after payouts to players, this left revenue of €46.9m, down 5.9%.