BRITAIN’s online casino and gambling industry has hit the jackpot.
The growth in revenues for both online and brick-and-mortar gaming venues has experienced unprecedented growth in the last five years. Some of this can be attributed to the social lockdowns of the pandemic era, which kept people indoors and looking for new sources of entertainment. This is only one small factor, however, and does not explain the continued growth the industry has had both before and after 2020. Why is the gambling industry growing so quickly? Let’s find out.
Tech Is Powering The Trend
One of the biggest drivers of the growth of the gambling industry is advances in technology. Mobile gaming is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the market, and mobile tech is helping online casinos and bookmakers to connect with more players, more often. People can play pretty much anywhere they are, thanks to better and faster smartphones and faster, more consistent connections. No longer do players need to be tied to a desktop or tap away at a laptop, all the gaming and gambling they could ever need is at their fingertips.
Smartphones have had a huge impact on the gambling industry across the world, not just in Britain. People have access to online casinos across the world, and they are experiencing a boost in revenues too. Games like fortune mouse, Monopoly Live, and other top-tier slot machines are being played at PlayLive Casino, one of South Africa’s most popular online betting venues. Even players from the UK are enjoying their live casino games and reading their slot reviews. The British gambling industry’s success is reaching out across the world to new online casinos and slot houses.
More tech advances that are just around the corner will help fuel the growth further. Casinos are already looking closely at Virtual Reality as a space they can move into to make online gaming more social and reach new players. As this technology becomes more mainstream, we expect to see even more growth in Britain’s gambling industry.
Variety Equals Accessibility
The gambling industry is offering a lot more options than it used to. Sports betting used to cover just horse racing, football, and a handful of other sports. Now, just about every sport has betting options on every major bookmaker. Even virtual sports and eSports get covered. There are also a larger number of leagues and events included in sportsbooks than ever before. Asian and African football leagues, for example, are now bet upon regularly by players in Great Britain.
Live, in-play sports betting has also seen an increase in coverage by bookmakers. Previously, live bets were not accepted and only pre-match or pre-event betting was allowed. Now bettors can place bets on games while they are in play, and not just on the big games. Small football games in regional leagues can all be bet on while the game is in play. The more options people have when betting, the more likely they are to place a bet.
Bookmakers and online casinos have taken note of this and increased the number of games they will take bets on and the number of ways they let players bet. The variety of bets on offer brings in new players. This is especially true of eSports betting. These sports are massively popular with the key demographic, affluent males aged 18-35. Giving these gamers the option to bet on their favourite eSports players and teams has brought them into the fold.
This has helped to increase the number of bets placed, the amount of money bookmakers make, and the amount they pay out to players. New sports are helping to fuel the growth of the UK gambling market. As these sports gain even more legitimacy in the wider public eye, with eSports set to make an Olympic debut one day soon, this trend can only continue.
Competitors Are Costly
To understand the growth in UK gambling you have to understand its place in the entertainment market. Many of the most popular entertainment venues have soared in costs. Going to the cinema, for example, is simply too expensive for some people or does not offer them the value for money that they are used to. Gambling allows you to set your own entertainment budget. For less than the price of a ticket to the latest blockbuster from Marvel or DC, you can have a week’s work of fun placing bets or playing games.
Consumers are making a cost/benefit analysis when it comes to entertainment, and gambling is winning. Every other form of entertainment has seen huge price increases, and people are being priced out of the market. This is true in the sports themselves. People can no longer afford to go to the match every week, but they still want to be a part of the action.
Placing bets on football matches, even if it is not on your team or even in a league that you follow, adds a little extra fun to the 3 pm kickoffs. Until costs come down, the revenues of bookmakers and online casinos will continue to rise. Ticket prices for cinemas, sporting events, musical acts, and even comedy are all going up with no sign of coming back down.
This phenomenon is visible in the profit and loss reports of other entities in the entertainment industry. Sales are down in cinemas, leading to increased ticket costs to cover the losses which only exasperates the problem. Football stadiums are increasing the level of corporate hospitality offered at games. The average fan is being priced out of the game, and the teams are having to turn to businesses to keep revenues and attendance up.
Until major changes are made to the prices of mainstream entertainment, consumers are going to keep turning to bookmakers and casinos as a source of fun. It costs a lot less than the extortionate ticket prices they are expected to pay. They have a chance of winning something too, which is something other entertainment venues cannot offer.
The growth of the online casino and gambling industry in the UK shows no signs of slowing down. Consumers have fewer options for low-cost fun and entertainment, and it is helping boost the visibility of the industry as well as its profits. With the convergence of technology, increased betting options, and more expensive competitors, the future looks very bright for the British gambling industry.
