According to the National Betting Authority, Cyprus' betting revenue increased by 13 percent in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the previous year.

The authority announced on Wednesday that total betting revenue from Class A (retail betting) and B (online betting) operators reached €292.01 million , an increase of 13 percent over the previous year.

Compared to the second quarter of 2024, which recorded sales of 287.89 million euros , the latest figures represent a modest increase of 2 percent .

Of the total revenue , EUR 77.36 million came from Class A operators, while Class B operators contributed EUR 214.65 million .

Gross revenue for Class A operators increased 9 percent compared to the third quarter of 2023 and 18 percent compared to the same period in 2022.

Meanwhile, Class B operators saw an increase of 14 percent year-on-year and 24 percent year-on-year.

Total player winnings in both categories amounted to €255.20 million , an increase of 10 percent compared to the third quarter of 2023 and 22 percent compared to 2022.

The majority of these winnings, a total of 191.38 million euros , came from online betting .

Betting commissions collected by Class A and B operators amounted to €36.80 million , an increase of 34 percent compared to the same period in 2023, when commissions amounted to €27.43 million .

Specifically, Class A commissions reached 13.54 million euros , an increase of 16 percent compared to 2023, while Class B commissions increased by 48 percent to 23.27 million euros .

The total number of Class A betting shops across Cyprus has decreased by 3 percent compared to the third quarter of 2023. There are still 475 licensed establishments in operation across the country .

The leader was Nicosia with 167 establishments , followed by Limassol with 131 , Larnaca with 90 , Paphos with 52 and Famagusta with 35 .

In contrast, license terminations and revocations increased by 38 percent compared to the third quarter of 2023.

The number of employees in the licensed betting shops amounted to 1,518 , an increase of three percent compared to the previous year.

There was also a slight increase in illegal betting websites: 259 additional websites were blocked in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of 1 percent over the previous quarter.

The total number of illegal betting websites blocked is now 20,733 .

Source: CyprusMail,com

Author: Kyriacos Nicolaou