Aussie sportsbet sector will grow

Although the tough economic times ahead will discourage casino and lottery gamblers, horseracing punters are unlikely to be put off by the economic decline, a study by IBISWorld research in Auistralia has found. Reporting on the study, the Sydney Morning Herald this week revealed that revenue from horse and sports betting is expected to grow by 11.9 percent this financial year, as the sector rebounds from the effects of equine influenza.
IBISWorld industry analyst Angela Kidson told the newspaper that the Aussie racing industry had experienced a loss of 9.3 percent in revenue over the 2007/08 financial year.
“It’s rebounding from (fiscal) 2008 which was a terrible year for them with the equine influenza,” Kidson said. “That hit the industry very hard: race numbers were down 16 percent.”
In the 2009/10 financial year, the sector is expected to grow at a slower rate of around 2.5 percent, buoyed by new interactive digital pay-TV betting sites.
The report anticipates that further interest rate cuts and the Australian federal government’s stimulus initiatives will increase average household disposable income by 4.98 percent early next year, but only a minimal portion of that is likely to be put into pokies or spent on lotto tickets, as disposable incomes are forecast to fall again in late 2009.
In the casino sector, revenue is expected to fall by 1.8 percent followed by another 2.3 percent drop by mid-2010. Lottery revenue will decline by 1.2 percent this financial year and a further 1.5 percent in 2009/10.
“I think most people are going to put their money into savings or pay off credit cards,” Kidson said. “But there will still be some people who will have a bit of a play on the pokies or buy a lottery ticket over Christmas.”
The results indicated competition between pubs, clubs, casinos and new Internet operators will be fierce, the report said.

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