While Covid-19 has shut down the brick-and-mortar casinos all over the globe, it made an opposite effect on the online gambling industry. All significant reports, including the one from The Business Research Company, confirm the astonishing impact the pandemic has had on the huge growth of the online gambling industry.
A massive increase of first-time online bettors
The social distancing measures have kept people in their homes for pretty much the whole of 2024. The governments forbade people to leave their properties during the lockdowns all over the planet. It was only natural to expect the sudden rise of internet traffic on all fronts. The Internet has in general been significantly gaining popularity over the last couple of years and the restrictions only enforced its impact among the population. We’ve witnessed a big 255% growth of first-time online poker players in the United States only last year, according to Global Poker.
The sites like Golden Nugget Online Casino on AmericaGambles enjoyed record numbers of new sign-ups. People suddenly got much more spare time as the vast majority of the population was forced to work from home (those who were lucky enough not to lose their jobs, though). People thus looked for any way of fun and entertainment and casino games just seemed to be a perfect match in such circumstances. Online casino sites blossomed while housing numerous distinct types of games, including slots, roulette, blackjack, poker, bingo, keno, lottery, baccarat, etc.
The market is only expected to grow further in the years to come
Some countries decided to react based on the whole situation caused by the pandemic. Online casino games were not legal in Belarus before the Covid-19 outbreak, but the country’s government decided to change the law and allow their residents to register at online casino sites. Neighboring Armenia also adjusted their laws to benefit from the new situation. And it can be assumed that other countries in that area will follow.
The United States has made changes to the online gambling laws before the coronavirus has hit the world. Some states have rushed to embrace the ever-growing industry off the back of the consequences left by the pandemic. It has all resulted in a massive increase in the global market size. It is projected to rise from $58.96 billion in 2019 to $92.86 billion in 2024. Further growth is expected by 2025 when the online gambling industry should go to a whopping $113.12 billion at a 10.4% CAGR.
At the latest, when many states realize how large the additional revenues in the area of taxes can be, further openings will take place. Of course, this will not come without regulation. Nevertheless, good times are likely ahead for the market. Users should also be interested because even before Corona, the entire industry was recording rising user numbers. The poker sector in particular was able to grow again after many weak years and quintupled within the Corona period.
Mobile gambling follows the rising trends
To keep pace with the new industry-standards, online gambling operators invest heavily in designing top-notch mobile platforms and hence expanding their business lines on the back of the pandemic consequences.
Smartphones with faster processing speeds, high-end graphics, and extended storage have never been more accessible. People can buy them at relatively reasonable prices and, nowadays, almost everybody owns a high-profile mobile device that almost functions as a PC. This is why we’ve come to the stage where mobile gambling is producing as much as 70% of the total gambling revenue in the United States.
This growth is also reflected in the video gaming sector, which also grew enormously during Corona. The stock market also reflects this well, with video gaming and gambling stocks soaring – whether Evolution Gaming, GameStop or Take-Two, almost every stock was a top hit for the own portfolio. Thus, one should have profited well from this market – whether as a gambler, gamer or investor.
In any case, further steady growth is forecast for the years 2024 to 2025. The video game market alone is expected to grow by up to 40%. In figures, this means an increase from 135 trillion USD to more than 195 trillion USD according to the service Statista. Mobile games continue to be a strong trend and more and more older people are joining the market. Gambling, meanwhile, is no different. Whether young or old, everyone now appreciates the little fun on the side and would be very reluctant to give it up again.
Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality
The new-era technologies were available before the coronavirus outbreak, but they should all significantly benefit from the given situation. At the moment, more and more online gambling companies are investing money in developing Artificial Intelligence to bring the overall experience for the customers to a higher level. And this investment could more than pay off very soon.
AI saves the players’ time by analyzing each user’s preferences and creating customized welcome pages for everyone individually. Virtual and augmented reality secure a much more realistic and immersive experience for the players. We should not be surprised to see these modern trends implanted by numerous online gambling hubs in the years to come.
Good times also lie ahead in the field of virtual reality. More and more games are using this unique way of interacting with the environment, and the hardware is also becoming more powerful. So basically, there’s not much standing in the way of a virtual visit to a casino. Land-based casinos could also benefit from having their buildings digitized and integrated into game worlds. In this way, it would even be possible to compete with online offers in a suitable way that could captivate users.
