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PTPokerStars Sees Revenue Drop For Third Consecutive Quarter
PokerStars has seen a continued decrease in online poker revenue, suffering a 12 percent year-on-year drop, as indicated by the latest quarterly report from The Stars Group – which is the parent company. The most recent decline represents the third consecutive quarter of year over year drop for the world’s largest online poker site, with revenues just falling below $200 million for the first time since 2016.
During the third quarter of 2018, PokerStars generated just $212.8 million, a year-on-year drop of 3.9 percent. It did not see much improvement in the next quarter, as revenues continued to fall and ended up at $210.9 million, a 10 percent decrease. Things continue to decline as the latest dip to $191.5 million was the lowest ever recorded by PokerStars in five years.
The continued decline in online poker revenues is bound to impact overall revenues for 2019 which experts estimate might fall below the $800 million mark. This is a blow to PokerStars as revenues for the past two years approached $900 million.
The Stars Group released its report last week which saw its share value drop from $16 to $13, representing a decline of nearly 20 percent, which shows that investors have also taken notice of PokerStars’ falling revenue numbers.
Focus Is On Sports Betting
In 2018, The Stars Group announced its acquisition of UK betting and gaming operator Sky Betting & Gaming under a $4.7 billion deal. The combination led to the world’s largest publicly listed online gaming company, and placed The Stars Group at the forefront of the online sports betting market. This major acquisition automatically put online poker on the back burner and the numbers are proof of the shift.
Latest figures show poker being surpassed by sports betting and online casino games in terms of share of company revenue. Poker accounted for 30.4 percent of The Stars Group’s revenue, a little lower than casino gaming revenue which stood at 30.8 percent and sports betting revenue at 35.7 percent. In the past, the major contributor was online poker. This trend could continue as the company proceeds with its sports betting expansion plans in the US, starting with its recent partnership with Penn National gaming.
While PokerStars remains the leader in the online poker market, its dominance has significantly slowed down compared to the previous year when its numbers were more than four times the nearest competitor.
