Pagcor bets on hefty growth in 2025 PH gaming revenue
The Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp. (Pagcor) expects the local gambling industry’s total revenues to grow by as much as 17 percent in 2025 on the back of a strong e-gaming sector, which is now expected to “match” the top line of brick-and-mortar casinos in the next few years.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Pagcor president and CEO Alejandro Tengco said that the regulator expects the industry’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) to reach between P450 billion and P480 billion in 2025, from P410.5 billion in 2024.
Such an outlook was based on the assumption that the online gaming sector would continue to boom, making it a reliable source of revenue for the entire industry.
According to the Pagcor chief, e-games could soon “match” the GGR of brick-and-mortar casinos “in the next two to three years.”
“I believe it (GGR growth) will come from e-gaming and I believe the trend in January and February will continue,” Tengco said.
He added that revenues from land-based gaming would likewise grow this year, but “not as significant” as that from the e-gaming sector.
Data showed the local gaming sector’s GGR grew by 24.81 percent in 2024, with income from e-games surging by 309.20 percent to P135.7 billion.
Rate cut
But the bulk of the GGR still came from licensed casinos after contributing P201.8 billion to the total receipts, albeit down by 2.72 percent.
Last January, Pagcor announced a fresh reduction to the remittance rates for e-games to encourage more investments in the online betting sector and convince illegal operators to register.
The gaming regulator said the fee it collects from e-games had been lowered to 30 percent, from 35 percent previously.
Likewise, the fees for betting platforms that are being run by integrated resorts were reduced to 25 percent to compensate for overhead expenses incurred by brick-and-mortar operators.
The fees collected by Pagcor are based on a fixed percentage of the licensees’ GGR.
Before the remittance rate cuts started in 2023, Pagcor was collecting fees of over 50 percent of GGR from licensees, which deterred expansion in the gambling sector.
