Gaming revenue hits P266 billion in 9 months

MANILA, Philippines — The local gambling industry is still raking in from increased operational capacity with its gross gaming revenue (GGR) growing to P266 billion in the nine-month period, effectively hitting nearly 80 percent of its target for the year.

Data from state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) showed that the industry’s GGR rose by 38 percent to P94.61 billion from July to September  compared to the P68.79 billion in the same period last year.

This brought the nine-month GGR to P265.54 billion, up by 29 percent from  P205.15 billion in the comparative period.

As such, the end-September GGR is now 78.9 percent of the P336.38 billion GGR target set by PAGCOR for the year.

For the third quarter alone, PAGCOR chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said growth was driven mainly by the electronic gaming sector, bringing in P35.71 billion in revenues, a more than five-fold jump from P6.32 billion generated in 2023.

This performance is an indication that the use of modern technology and mobile gadgets in gaming and amusement will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of gaming,  Tengco said.

The sector will continue to flourish as technology increasingly becomes an integral part of people’s lifestyles, including in shopping, gaming and entertainment, he said.

By end-2024, PAGCOR expects the e-gaming sector to generate P78 billion in license fees alone to bring total revenues to the P100-billion mark.

On the other hand, casinos still accounted for the huge chunk of GGR at 54 percent, but it posted a lower revenue of P50.72 billion from P51.9 billion in the comparative period.

Revenues from PAGCOR-owned games under the Casino Filipino brand declined by 26 percent to P3.64 billion as more players shifted to online platforms.

Contributions from bingo operations also slipped by 19 percent to P4.52 billion.