Colombian regulatory body Coljuegos has revealed some big numbers relating to the country’s betting activities during the last FIFA World Cup. According to association president Juan B Pérez Hidalgo, more than 1 million 127 thousand online bets were made on the Colombian national team alone in the four matches against Japan, Poland, Senegal and England.
During the tournament, using Colombia’s 12 licensed portals, 13,386,781 bets were made overall, amounting to $185,899,054,531, generating prize money of $158,014,196,351. Hidalgo explained further: “The two biggest prizes awarded were $36,930,300 in bets placed in the England Vs Belgium and Panama v. Tunisia matches. In the case of the Colombian national team against Senegal, one player won $31,814,928, becoming the highest prize awarded for a meeting of the national eleven.”
Looking at online gaming in the round during the first half of 2018, Hidalgo said that tax revenue for health services was $14,869,546,557. “Coljuegos transfers these resources every six months to the health of the country and upon completing the first year of operation, a transfer for $13,032,442,123 corresponding to the same period was made,” he said. “This means a variation of 99.6%, with respect to the $ 6,528,900,076 that were transferred corresponding to the second half of 2017.”
Online gaming has one of the highest rates of return to players, noted Hidalgo, adding that in the case of Colombia it amounts to at least 83% of sales. This was evidenced by the increase in the prizes awarded during the World Cup, he claimed. “During 2018, month by month, the average of prizes came to $101,222,695,027 per month , in the sporting event they increased by 56.1%,” he commented.
