The iGaming industry is still growing as 2020 approaches, with existing trends continuing to show promising signs and emerging markets boosting overall revenues for the industry as a whole. According to reports, the global online gambling market was worth $46 billion in 2017 and is expected to be worth $87.75 billion by 2024. This represents a growth of more than double in the coming years.

Although these figures seem radical, a closer examination of the industry reveals a lot about the possibilities for additional online gambling revenues, especially in the USA and Asia-Pacific. When it comes to subcategories, sports betting takes the lead globally, and with the introduction of legalised sports betting in the USA, this is expected to create an online boom of its own. Online casino gaming follows as close second in the breakdown of market share.

Impact of Online Sports Betting

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Sports betting is already an incredibly popular activity, with some estimates claiming that it accounts for around 40% of online gambling revenues. The major recent catalyst in this market, and one that is still impacting the rapid growth rate of the industry to this day, has been the legalisation of sports betting in the USA.

Following the overruling of federal law in 2018, it was left to individual states to regulate the online gaming landscape for themselves. Since then, business has been booming for those States which have got ahead of the curve with sports betting. According to the American Gambling Association, New Jersey handled around $250 million in sports bets in October of 2018, while Nevada took over double this, $528 million in the same month.

Online and mobile sports bookmakers can now be accessed in New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Iowa, Indiana and West Virginia, with more States expected to follow.

Europe is still the biggest sports betting market in the world, and the UK is still a major industry player. Both benefit from a mature and well regulated market. The future valuation for the USA is speculative, but estimates suggest that if 32 States joined the sports betting revolution the market would be worth over $6 billion by 2023.

Asia-Pacific is another huge market, and one that could expand if regulation and policy allows. Macau is the biggest gambling city in the world, even overtaking Vegas when it comes to bets and gaming revenues, though the activity remains forbidden throughout much of the region. The continent has a population of over 4 billion, and is undergoing beneficial shifts that could turn the tides of online gaming, such as increased disposable income and internet penetration.

This all points towards a rapidly growing and highly investable sports betting market, with opportunities not only for well-established bookmakers, but also for back-end companies like International Game Technology (IGT) and Bragg Gaming Group. The sports betting market is really just getting started in some major areas of the world, while in others it is still rapidly growing.

Online Casino Industry Still Booming

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Although online sports betting is by far the dominant market force, other segments are still holding strong in terms of revenue and growth. Online casinos represent the second largest subcategory by global revenue. In some countries, online casinos still represent the largest category for online betting. For example, in the UK, £2.6 billion of £4.5 billion generated online comes from online casino games, whereas £1.6 billion comes from online betting.

In Europe, the online gaming market is expected to grow from €19.9 billion in 2017, to an estimated €24.7 billion in 2020. Sports betting represents 40.3% of the market, while online casino gaming represents a significant 32.1% of the market.

As the industry is much more developed in Europe, major brands sit at the top of the market, and have had the opportunity to expand into multiple verticals. Due to rising competition in the sector some companies have focused on unique design elements. Many of the industry leaders operate in several verticals, such as online casinos, poker sites, bookies and bingo. 777 casino is a good example of how to design a unique great online casino around an interesting and surprising retro style of Vegas of the fifties theme.

The situation is very different across the water. The USA has had a complicated relationship with online casino gaming, but due to the recent changes in gambling legislation, the decision of whether to allow and regulate it has once again been left up to the individual State. So far, Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have a limited number of online casinos available.

With the rapid rise of sports betting in the USA, and the revenue and taxes that it will generate, many anticipate that online casino gaming will follow.

States such as Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia and South Carolina are all currently undergoing potential transformations when it comes to the online casino segment of the industry. If these states allow regulated sites, this will again increase the USA’s gambling revenues and overall global industry market cap.

Future of Online Gambling

Esports is one of the fastest growing online betting markets

As already discussed, the future of online gambling seems to lie not only with the continued growth of the more mature markets like Europe and the UK, but also with the current rapid expansion of sports betting and online casinos in the USA, as well as the potential opening up of the huge Asia Pacific market in coming years.

American sports are already very popular sports betting options with non-US citizens, and with US citizens who are legally able to sports bet. Sports like the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL make up a full sports calendar of hundreds of games that will attract punters to betting stations. Expect an explosion of sports betting in the States.

Another surprising online gambling trend, and one that has yet to be mentioned here, is the growth of esports as a betting market. Esports has seen complete transformation over the last few years, and has now established itself as a serious competitive industry. It has even been compared to traditional sports, and in some nations, such as Sri Lanka, is officially considered as sport.

Gaming tournaments like Fortnite and DOTA2 International fill stadiums, pull in millions of viewers online, and offer millions of dollars in prize money to winners. Not surprising then that esports is one of the fastest growing betting markets. With its growing popularity, comes more opportunities for wagering at online bookies.

In fact, esports and traditional sports betting could be set to combine into an international boom that catalyses the entire gambling market.