From e-sabong to e-games craze

Electronic casinos continue to hit the jackpot, growing exponentially and, as predicted, have shaken tycoons operating traditional casino floors.

What’s happening now is similar to the e-sabong craze of the past, except that in terms of revenues – at least as officially declared by e-sabong lords back then – e-sabong raked in less than e-games.

But the craze is comparable, with more and more Filipinos getting hooked on the different e-games platforms. For sure, 2024 was the year of e-games.

This is due to the use of modern technology, said Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) president and CEO Al Tengco.

Mobile gadgets in gaming and amusement will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of gaming, and Tengco predicts that the sector will continue to flourish as technology increasingly becomes an integral part of people’s lifestyles for both shopping and entertainment.

E-sabong was no doubt a craze at its peak during the pandemic before it was banned by the Duterte administration in 2022.

Revenue jackpot

Now, just like e-sabong, the e-games sector, which offers a wider spectrum of games – including just about everything in brick-and-mortar casinos, plus the well-loved bingo – has seen a phenomenal increase in revenue in 2024 alone, growing by 464.38 percent to P35.71 billion in the third quarter of last year from just P6.32 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

For the whole of 2024, PAGCOR expects e-games revenue to have hit P100 billion.

On the other hand, during the third quarter of the year, revenues from licensed casinos declined by 2.27 percent to reach P50.72 billion.

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

Imagine that.

Just a little over a decade ago, the country’s tycoons were scrambling to get their respective licenses for traditional casinos.

Everybody wanted to hitch a ride on the lucrative gambling industry and be part of Entertainment City – the Philippines’ version of the Las Vegas and Macau casino havens.

But now, it seems that even some of the country’s casino tycoons have been caught by surprise by the phenomenal growth of the e-games industry and are now racing against time to build their respective online platforms.

Enrique Razon’s Solaire Resort, for instance, is recruiting for its “online gaming team,” according to a post on the social media platform LinkedIn.

According to GGRAsia, the positions offered include roles such as director of online gaming – product, director, online gaming – retention marketing, head of online casino and bingo, etc.

The LinkedIn update didn’t mention the precise format for the Solaire online-based product. However, Solaire already runs online gaming aimed at domestic players and tied to physical casino inventory, including via a Philippine Inland Gaming Operator license. Its online offering includes live slot games, live table games and e-games (GGR Asia, Dec. 27, 2024).

Banking group Morgan Stanley mentioned in a note in early December that Bloomberry is planning to launch an “online gaming app in the third quarter of 2025, likely using a different brand than Solaire to target different clientele,” the gaming news site also said.

In April last year, the Gokongwei Group’s NUSTAR Resort and Casino in Cebu also launched NUSTAR Max, its official online gaming platform, which offers an extensive range of betting options with over 30 sports games, live table games, e-games and more.

Even gaming regulator PAGCOR is also coming up with its own online casino platform, casinofilipino.com, this year.

It remains to be seen how the upcoming brick-and-mortar casinos, such as those by the Villar Group, the Andrew Tan Group and Martin Romualdez-led EEI (in partnership with Dennis Uy of Davao), would fare in this changing casino landscape in the Philippines.

Actually, it’s not just in the Philippines.

Even casino cities Las Vegas and Macau are seeing a decline in brick-and-mortar gaming revenues.

Gambling Republic

Overall, however, the Philippines is still very much a Gambling Republic, with nine-month 2024 gross gaming revenue (GGR) growing to P265.54 billion – up by 29 percent from P205.15 billion in the same period last year.

The end-September GGR is now 78.9 percent of the P336.38 billion GGR target set by PAGCOR for 2024.

PAGCOR’s Al Tengco, of course, is happy, and so is Eusebio Tanco, the e-games tycoon who chairs listed gaming company DigiPlus Interactive Corp.

As we all know, DigiPlus is on a roll and is all set for its maiden international expansion, having recently secured the license for its foray into Brazil’s gaming market. It will operate sports betting and other online games in the South American country.

This bodes well for DigiPlus, of course. No wonder it’s among the biggest stock market gainers in 2024.

From just P7.93 per share on Jan. 4, 2024, DigiPlus’ share price is now at a whopping P28.95 per share when it closed on Jan. 3, 2025. That’s an incredible jump in just a single year.

Addiction

But there’s a catch.

Addiction to online games is dangerous, and it’s more difficult to monitor online bettors compared to the traditional casino floors where players can actually be banned from entering the gaming areas if their family requests it or if they have addiction issues.

Now, we’ll have to wait and see if this growth in e-games will eventually implode with its own social issues, just like e-sabong.

I’m betting it will.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.