Chile Reports Favourable Q1 Gaming Performance

Operators in Chile have had a positive start to the new year, generating $149.8m in gross gaming revenue for the first three months of 2022. This was a significant 12.2% uplift on Q1 2020, which was the last reasonable like-for-like comparison of performance, with the coronavirus pandemic hitting Chilean shores towards the back end of this quarter.

Indeed, given the harrowing impacts of COVID-19 throughout much of 2021, Chile’s 2022 Q1 output represented a 400% incline on the previous year. It’s difficult to infer any genuine conclusions from this data, but its clear Chile’s gambling landscape is motoring towards full recovery.

Average spending levels have accelerated above pre-pandemic levels, and, although visitation has dropped substantially, net returns are still in positive shape. Throughout the quarter, the average spend volume per customer rocketed to $101, a colossal 30% improvement on the same metric for the opening few months of 2019. If visitation can return to prior levels, native casino concessionaires could be poised for a lucrative windfall. Only 1.4m players entered Chilean gaming facilities between January and March of this year, which represents just a 54% portion of the footfall enjoyed before the coronavirus crisis struck.

Nevertheless, the number of visitors received during Q1 2022 eclipsed that of Q4 2021, with circa 3,000 more players accessing venues between the first and last quarters of the two most recent calendar years. However, last winter proved to be a barnstorming period for bricks-and-mortar operators, hitting a staggering $355m GGR figure. This included a record-breaking October, returning the highest revenue total since the inception of the casino sector back in 2008.

The data, which was released by Chile’s gaming regulator, Superintendence of Gambling Casinos (SCJ), also demonstrated that casino firms injected a sizeable $48.3m into state coffers via taxation payments during the first quarter of 2022.