The gambling industry continues to grow and will continue to do so in the next few years despite an ongoing pandemic. Sure, many land casinos were forced to temporarily close their doors because of the current world health crisis, but surprisingly, the gambling industry is thriving.
Last year, the global online gambling market was estimated to be valued at around 53.7 billion US dollars. By the end of this year, it is expected that it would be valued at over 53.6 billion US dollars with a CAGR of 11.5 percent until 2027. That means that by 2027, the online gambling sector will be valued at 127.3 billion US dollars.
The online gambling market was predicted to grow even without a pandemic but without a doubt, the speed of its growth was boosted in the last few months. The closure of land casinos made gamblers seek out alternative gambling options and they are now turning to online bookies and casinos to place their bets and play real money slots for US Players. As more and more people get into gambling, how does its future look? It’s going interesting because as more people gamble, more demands will be made. Here is a look at how different factors shape the future of the gambling industry.
- Mobile Gambling
One of the reasons why many people prefer gambling online is that they can do this anywhere with a mobile device. Based on statistics, the popularity of mobile gambling rose to 60 percent in the last few years and it will still grow as more people shift to doing their activities online with their mobile device.
The rise in the number of smartphone users also plays a role in this. Currently, there are already around 4 billion smartphone users all over the world and what this means to casino operators is that they can reach that many people if they focus on their mobile services. This is why many casinos are now giving their mobile customers more attention. More mobile casino apps are being developed and are strengthened with better features.
With the rise of the smartphone and mobile users also comes the availability of 5G connections. So far, not all countries have this already, but it’s already present in countries like the US, parts of Europe, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea. 5G connection would just make mobile gambling a much better experience.
- Cashless Transactions
Many experts have reasons to believe that the future is about cashless transactions. This is already the case for online gambling, but it is possible that all gambling transactions could be cashless in the future. Right now, gamblers still have ways to deposit their gambling accounts with cash.
While it’s common for online gamblers to go cashless with their transactions, one method, in particular, is believed to be the future of online gambling. This is the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and many other more.
There has been an increase in the number of cryptocurrency users over the last few years. This increase mainly started when the value of Bitcoin peaked at around 20,000 US dollars in 2017. It has been a while since that happened but right now, the value of Bitcoin is doing good and has already surpassed 10,000 US dollars. With that, people are once again giving it attention and more people will likely be using cryptocurrency again in the next few months. This is especially if its value peaks once again which some experts think would happen even before the year ends.
- Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality has always been associated with gaming including casino games. There are already VR casino games that you can play, but with more people shifting to online gambling because of the pandemic, VR casinos will likely be more of a thing in the future.
People would miss the experience that a land casino can give them and through VR, they can experience this without leaving their homes. Developers can create a 3D casino environment where people could play casino games and interact with each other. Think of walking through a 3D casino floor while looking for a casino game that piques your interest. It could be a slot machine game, blackjack, poker, and many more.
Even land casinos are looking for ways to implement VR technology in their business. Some casinos aspire to use VR devices to help new players get used to or oriented on the casino floor before entering into one. This would benefit new players who don’t know how to play specific casino games.
