The year 2024 marked the second highest record in gross sales for the social games of Lisbon’s Santa Casa, surpassing 3.1 billion euros, with the largest ever payout in prizes.
The 2024 Annual Report from the Department of Games of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa revealed results showing “the second best outcome in its history concerning gross sales, with a volume of 3.142.9 million euros” (only surpassed in 2019).
The State received a total of 895.5 million euros, divided between 673 million euros from dividends for beneficiaries and 211.6 million euros from stamp duty, “the largest ever generated from the sale of social games.”
“The year 2024 registered the highest ever payouts in prizes by Jogos Santa Casa to bettors, totaling 2.073.2 million euros,” the report states.
It further noted that “the strong performance of state social games in 2024 also resulted in the highest ever volume of commissions paid to mediators, amounting to 247.9 million euros, significantly impacting local economies and employment, considering that most mediators of Jogos Santa Casa are small family businesses.”
In an interview, the provider of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa discussed that upon taking office, the current board noticed a “very significant negative variation in the activity of social games” compared to 2023, and one of their “main concerns” was to find alternatives to “quickly increase social games’ results”.
Paulo Sousa mentioned that there were games unavailable to some mediators, which presented a problem that was addressed, alongside extending the mediator network, which now consists of around 5,000 locations throughout the country—a change not seen in over 10 years.
He also mentioned a switch in the technological platform for points of sale, a process that required an investment exceeding 20 million euros.
According to Sousa, 2024 was “the year with the highest sales ever through digital channels,” emphasizing the need to understand “this as a trend that should not be neglected in social games.”
However, he underscored that the social games operated by the institution “fundamentally rely on a physical point of sale” and the mediator network, ensuring that Santa Casa will continue to “fully respect” the gaming concession granted to it.
Despite social games being the institution’s main revenue source, gambling addiction poses a concern. However, the provider emphasized that “social games represent no more than 15% of the total gambling in Portugal” and “scratch cards account for about 7%.”
He highlighted that Santa Casa provides a support line for cases of dependency, assisting gamblers, with “more than 65% of received calls being unrelated to social games.”
He advocated for addressing the online gambling phenomenon with concern to find solutions, describing it as “a challenge for the whole society.”
