Gambling is a proportionate part of the culture in the UK, with our legislations permitting both online and physical gambling without a huge barrage of restrictions as seen across Europe and the rest of the globe. However, due to technology becoming more accessible and widespread in recent years, online gambling has now become a staple within the gambling community.
With a multitude of gambling sites and apps offering their unique services to players, it begins to raise the question as to how expansive this industry is truly becoming.
Gambling as a Whole
The entirety of the gambling industry in the UK is undeniably immense. Currently supporting over 40,000 jobs, the industry is compromising a portion of the job market and sustaining many healthy incomes across the country. Yet this is thanks to the staggering £5 billion annual economic footprints left by this industry alone and the subsequent £15.5 billion gross gambling yield per annum – this industry is one that shows no signs of losing traction.
Obviously, the entirety of the economic footprint and GGY is an accumulation of all the separate types of gambling and their annual income, yet with over 36.6 million active online gambling accounts recorded in 2018 – it is highly probable that the online industry is triumphing over gambling in establishments in terms of popularity.
The Relevance of Online Gambling
It is unsurprising, that due to the increasing levels of convenience and accessibility within technology, particularly through the development of more mobile devices, that this is acting as more of an incentive to gamble remotely. Within a few clicks players can be participating in their favourite casino games, whilst encrypted by security measures and able to pay with the ease of their bank accounts, thus reducing the time element when it comes to travelling and withdrawing money prior to gambling at an establishment.
Yet online gambling is not entirely limited to mobile phones and other comparable devices. Due to the exponential market of over 36.6 million Britons who regularly play video games, a staggering 3.1 million are enthusiasts of e-sports. The e-sports market is one that hosts a variety of opportunities for online gambling companies to implement their technology – hence why some e-sports games are cited to have prize pools of up to £20,000.
With the mass availability of different levels of technology, it is hardly surprising as to why online betting and gambling as a whole, is contributing so massively to consumerism.
Economic Impacts
Judging by the previous data, it is evident that the repercussions of online gambling increasing in relevance is an entirely positive one economically.
As of 2018, online gambling (both betting and online casinos) accounted for over 38.8% of the entire annual revenue, which equated to over £5.6 billion. This staggering amount of revenue towers over other forms of physical gambling in terms of their annual contributions to the GGY and dominates a huge portion of the gambling market.
Of this amount, it has prospected that the online sports betting market is worth over £650 million and is shown to be on a 7% incline each year, thus showing the huge economic influence of online gambling. By one individual sub-categorisation of online gambling accounting for such an exponential portion of the average revenue produced each year, it further exemplifies how crucial online gambling is to the economy.
The Future
With the yearly percentage of online gambling further dominating the gambling market, this presents a promising vision for the future. Online gambling is rapidly attracting more consumers and creating a more convenient means of accessing players’ favourite games and offering the potential to win even bigger than previously anticipated.
With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging throughout the globe, it is going to further push physical gambling establishments into the past and create more of leeway for innovative means of gambling via mobile technology. It is forecasted that even following the pandemic, that online gambling will still retain the upper hand within the market and continue to dominate over other alternative means of gambling.
Remote gambling is undeniably the future, whether this be through online betting or casinos, it is rapidly providing a huge income source and accumulating a previously unanticipated GGY.
If online gambling appeals to you, then now is the time to make the switch to this gambling method, so that you can conveniently access your favourite games in such unprecedented times without the worry of leaving the house.
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