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Since its humble beginnings back in the mid-90s, when the internet in general was something of a cult phenomenon, online gambling has grown to unprecedented heights and is now comfortably one of the biggest industries in the world.While the growth over the last 20 years or so has been impressive, it is in the last decade that the rise of iGaming has become most apparent.
The numbers
To really understand the pace that the industry is growing, one needs to be aware of the numbers.At the end of 2016, the online gambling industry was worth a little over $40 billion, which was a huge increase on ten years before, but the speed of growth is only increasing, and experts estimate that the value of the industry will hit the $80 billion mark by the end of 2020.In the UK, there has been a 300% increase in online gambling revenue since the introduction of new legislation in 2014, sitting at almost $7 billion at the end of 2017.At this point, 11% of total internet traffic comes from those using online casinos, which is nothing short of incredible.
Land-based growth
The concern with online industries is that they will take away business from the bricks and mortar businesses, but this has not proven to be the case with gambling, as non-remote betting, which includes land-based bookmakers and casinos, is also on the rise.The suggestion here is that online gambling isn’t taking people away from the more traditional gambling environments, instead appealing to an entirely new customer base.With technological advancements over recent years bringing and increasingly true to life experience to online players, and the likes of virtual reality waiting in the wings as the next big step forward, it looks like the growth of the online gambling industry is only set to continue.