[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n the past decade, the online gambling business has grown by leaps and bounds. For comparison sake let’s look at the figures between earnings from 2008 versus earnings from 2018. In 2008, the global online gambling business made $24.73 billion while in 2018 the global industry earned $56.05 billion. This is remarkable considering that according to Forbes, the revenues for the global music industry in 2018 was $19 billion.
Here are five factors that made online gambling a billion dollar business:
1. Regulations
In many countries in the world such as Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and countries in Western Europe, online gambling has long been legalized. This has enabled traditional casino businesses to move their shops and platforms online, allowing customers to gamble from the comfort of their computers and mobile devices. In countries where online gambling is illegal, casino managers find a way to benefit from online gambling. Take for instance in South Africa where online gambling has been illegal since 2004, South African Syndicate Casino offers gaming through casino resorts, where ambiguous in-game currency enables users play game slot online and gamble without breaking the law.
2. Proliferation of Lotteries
Lotteries have become very popular in most countries of the world, and massive winnings in these lotteries are publicized in the media. This has created further interest in lotteries as it gives people hope that with a small purchase, they can win life changing sums of money. Of recent, lotteries have created online options where people can buy lottery tickets online. On the websites where online lottery tickets are sold, there are other online gambling opportunities such as game slot online. Ultimately, online lotteries aid in popularizing online gambling and also act as a funnel to bring in customers to participate in online gambling.
3. Easy Accessibility
Internet penetration has created a world where most people can access websites online. This has made it significantly easier for most people to gamble online. Secondly, betting and gambling companies create user-friendly portals to make it easy for customers to create accounts, fund the accounts, gamble, and withdraw their earnings. In addition, they have made it easy for customers to use other mobile gadgets apart from computers for online gambling, ensuring that people gamble online while in transit, at work, on the train, or on holiday. A report by Gambling Commission in the United Kingdom showed that about 40% of the total remote Gross Gambling Yield in the United Kingdom by 2018 was generated by mobile gadgets.
4. Sports Betting
Sports is a big global business and much of sports betting takes place in the form of online gambling. With sports events like games, matches and tournaments taking place weekly and in some cases a number of times in a week, there is an abundance of sports betting opportunities which drives people to bet and gamble online. An online gambling guide is a resource that has become useful in helping people become familiar with online gambling and to gamble responsibly.
5. Casino Bonuses
Many online gambling sites offer a sign up bonus, a feature hardly available in traditional casinos. Many users find this alluring as they can put in $10 to their gambling account, and get another $10 bonus free. This has been a very successful strategy to lure customers to explore the platform, create accounts and gamble online. As the customers take these offers, they tend to stay on and become adept at gambling online, becoming regular customers.
These are the 5 factors that made online gambling a billion dollar business. With more countries moving to legalize online gambling and with Wi-Fi and broadband Internet becoming more available even in remote areas, the earnings will only grow.
