The UK online gambling industry and the changes to come

Here, we look at the steady growth in the popularity of online gambling.

While you would assume that gambling is all about money, in truth there is a fine balance between the legality of the industry and the profit it can make. With the rise of online gambling we’ve seen them take a lot of business from the real-life casinos, and this is no surprise, but what is in the future for the casino?

Online sports betting sites such as Sbat.com now offer punters a wide a range of markets to bet on. Online casinos also offer a number of different games to play, from roulette to poker, and of course the ever popular slots and online bingo. The industry has made wise choices when it comes to the use of the internet to build up their business and are thriving because of it. This has come about somewhat because of the relaxing of restrictions to the laws surrounding it, but also the ease of use.

The simple fact is if you can pick up your smartphone or your tablet and play straight away, access is almost instantaneous. While this can be a good thing, it can also be a bad one, especially for those who don’t gamble responsibly. This is why gambling, even online, is still one of the most regulated forms of entertainment available.

There has been a steady growth in the popularity of online gambling for many years. Taking a look from 2008 which saw a 9.7 per cent growth we can see that by 2012 it had grown by 11.5 per cent. Jumping to the end of 2014 this growth had grown to 15.9 per cent by September, but actually showed a small dip in December to 15.4 per cent. While this dip may have been a sign of change, the industry has remained strong and kept making money.

With the rise of online gambling being in part due to the rise of the smartphones and tablets, it is possible that the growth could reach a peak, then stabilise as the growth in the technology market slows too. With the continued surge in new technology though this is doubtful, and with new tech such as virtual reality giving even more opportunities for innovation, we may see more popularity in gambling yet.

The bottom line when it comes to online gambling is that it makes money, and the investors notice this. While people are making a profit out of people’s entertainment, money will be pushed into the gambling sites. This will be regulated of course to control the size of the business, one thing that can’t be ignored is the safety of the actual people who are paying into the sites. If the rise of online gambling actually had a negative impact on the people subscribing to the sites, look for more restrictions to come into place.

The fact is the trend of online gambling, especially in the UK is on the rise. There may be signs of downturns at times, but while success is still being seen, companies will take notice. The number of sites will continue to grow, and most importantly, we can all enjoy our casino games in the comfort of our own homes.

Ben Lobel

Ben Lobel

Ben Lobel was the editor of SmallBusiness.co.uk from 2010 to 2018. He specialises in writing for start-up and scale-up companies in the areas of finance, marketing and HR.

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