Digital channels gaining ground in gambling

Online gambling in general, and mobile gambling in particular, continues to exhibit impressive growth both in Europe and globally, according to a report on the Economic Voice blog this week.

Online channels contributed $33.8 billion to the overall global gambling industry in 2012, representing just eight percent of world gambling net revenue estimated at $417 billion, and the publication points out that growth in online activity (including mobile) has surged since then.

More recent figures from the European Commission suggest that the gambling market in the European Union is currently around Euro 84.9 billion with growth near 3 percent annually, and approximately 6.8 million online gambling punters active. Annual  online revenues in 2015 are expected to top Euro 13 billion, a steady growth from 2012’s Euro 10 billion, which at that time constituted 12 percent of the total European market.

The United Kingdom is widely regarded as one of the most active and developed environments in regulated gambling with an estimated growth rate of 12 percent. 2014 projections by Mintel and Deloittes analysts indicated that the UK market could reach total consumer expenditure of nearly GBP 4.4 billion by 2018, led by the popular sports betting vertical.

In this growing business, tablets and smartphones are increasingly gaining traction as betting and financial transaction technology improves, giving on-the-move punters more convenience, information, variety and immediacy than retail outlets.

The 2014 Global Online Gambling & Betting Market study predicted that mobile gambling will grow at double-digit rates and reach over 40 percent of the total online gambling market by 2018, and major company results tend to confirm that mobile channel contributions to revenues are on the rise.

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