The world of online gambling has experiences continued growth over the last couple of years. Whilst land-based casinos have struggled in the wake of the financial crisis, online casinos have grown a lot in that same time.
This year alone Juniper Research estimates the total of online gambling wagers placed at $550 billion. That amount obviously considers all wagers placed worldwide, but it is still mindboggling. And what’s more, the think-tank company expects this number to increase further and hit nearly $1 trillion by 2021. Their estimates expect online gambling wagers in excess of $950 billion in five years time.
One trend behind these numbers reveals an increasing amount of wagers being placed via mobile platforms. Since mobile gambling is becoming ever more popular, wagers are placed from pretty much anywhere at any time. This ease of access will certainly contribute to the expected increase.
Juniper also expects VR to make a breakthrough by 2021. Especially live casino will see a boost with the new technology since the experience will then become as authentic as it can possibly be without actually setting foot in a brick and mortar casino.
The research report presented by Juniper Research suggests a new maturity in the market, which is more and more driven by customer loyalty and therefore retention. Considering the wide choice that presents itself to customers, retention is a key factor in continued success. Listening to customers wishes is also part of the effort of keeping customers interested and loyal. We can already see more and more online casinos widening their reach and adding new and better products to their portfolios.
The report claims that the cumulative wagering will actually be on par with spending on digital goods in 2021. That means that spending on wagers will be the same as spending on all other digital goods that are available on the World Wide Web.
It is also interesting to note that Juniper does not expect the crypto-currency Bitcoin to be widely used. Whilst it is becoming more popular, resulting in more online casinos offering Bitcoin as a payment method, it seems unlike that the crypto-currency will be adopted by the masses.
Finally, whilst online gambling wagers seem to be on a continued rise, more and more countries and legislation are opting for a total ban on online gambling. The Philippines are one of the most recent examples and they may not be the last one. It remains to be seen whether the impact of these prohibitions will be felt in the future or if they will be negligible in the grand scheme of worldwide online gambling.