Online Casinos on High Growth Path
iGaming Business, operating from London, has for long been a reputed source of industry information on online gambling. It has just released a report titled The Global Business of Online Casinos. This is one of the most comprehensive reports on the online casino industry. It records the history and projects the future of online casinos.
The report states that by the end of 2010 the global online casino market will be worth $4.7 billion. This will increase to $5.8 billion by the end of 2012 and to $7.1 billion by the end of 2014. The worth has been measured in terms of gross gaming yield. These projections show a 79% increase from 2009. The Global Business of Online Casinos has also tried to explain the reasons for this growth. The start up cost for an online casino is about $1.5 million whereas it is about $300 million for a land based casino. Also online casinos need few employees to keep the casino running as against hundreds of employees required in land based casinos. Hence, according to the report large non-gambling brands with online presence are likely to enter online gambling in a big way. An example given is that of media owners.
Other factors that favor the growth of online casinos are the growth in Internet and mobile connectivity in the developing areas of the world, the word of mouth advocacy through social networking sites and the innovations in technology. The report also adds that though the growth will be based on the novelty that the industry is able to provide on a continuous basis, the familiar games like online roulette are here to stay.
