How Will The Casino Market Continue To Grow In 2021

Both online and land-based casino markets continue to show impressive growth through 2021. Forecasts suggest casino popularity shows no signs of slowing.

Buying trends demonstrate a 28% annual increase in the consumption of services via the global virtual market. Casinos are one of the areas taking full advantage of consumers changing habits and capitalising on emerging technologies.

Online Casino revenue equated to 77.42 billion USD worldwide with a compound annual growth rate of 7.91% in 2020. This development can be attributed largely to the furthering proliferation and popularity of the smart device. As of January 2021, worldwide there were 4.66 billion active internet users (roughly 60% of the global population). Approximately 93% of this figure said they accessed the internet via mobile devices.

Growing awareness and adoption of the latest technologies combined with increased disposable income means the online casino market is estimated to reach 158.2 billion U.S. dollars by 2028.

While land-based casino revenue displays success of its own, online casinos continue to borrow market share from their real world counterparts. The industry is known for being adaptive to changes and a shift towards virtual casinos doesn’t suggest, land-based premises are losing out. In fact most big name brick and mortar facilities are well represented in the digital realm.

The distinction between casual gaming and online casinos has become increasingly blurred. Numerous online casinos offer free-to-play versions of their gaming platforms, so whether or not money is involved, people are proving that their choice to participate is first and foremost a matter of entertainment.

Industrywide, there has been an intentional rebranding of the casino as a leisure activity, with marketing aimed at a much broader demographic. This has had the desired effect and participation has increased across age ranges as well as genders.

Advancements in U.S. legislation of online casinos have continued to provide space in the sector. 2021 has been advocated as the year where online casino growth may finally tap into the huge potential of the North American market. The comparatively modest Canadian market already is worth an estimated 30 billion CAD.

• New Jersey is the figurehead of the US online casino market generating 225 million USD per annum. It was one of the first states to implement legal online real-money gaming services once it was permitted in national law.
• West Virginia is the latest addition to the fold; the passing of the West Virginia Lottery Interactive Wagering Act of 2019. The year 2020 saw West Virginia’s first regulated internet casinos begin trading. In the same year, online casinos immediately outperformed internet based sportsbooks and have improved on that performance entering 2021.
• Pennsylvania is one of the three states where real-money sports, casino and poker gaming is legal. Many of the Keystone State’s land based casinos have online equivalents and these dominated the Pennsylvania market.
• Other states that are in the process of passing legislation include California, Connecticut, Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Nevada

According to a United States market report, America’s total online market will increase by a CAGR of 15.41%. It’s an investment opportunity speculators have been quick to capitalise on. Since 2008 the stock market has been precarious but due to innovation and expansion in the area, online casino investment has remained particularly favourable and the developing U.S. market will provide new opportunities.

Draftkings is a prime example of the market’s confidence in the sector, tripling their value in less than a year. Penn National Gaming which operates 43 casino facilities performed just as impressively.

In other parts of the world, the legalisation of online casinos has followed. India introduced legislation allowing online casinos in Sikkim and Goa, based on the potential revenue and employment benefits the market could offer.

Europe, however, continues to dominate the market globally with a 22 billion USD share. France, Germany, Spain and Italy among others have made legal room available for online casinos to operate. Combined with a growing access to high speed internet connections, the market potential continues to expand.

The U.K. introduced an act in 2005 which permitted casino sites to advertise and stimulated growth in the region. The U.K. was one of the earliest to provide a framework for online casinos and has capitalised on this early start, cultivating a thriving industry that has seen year on year growth for the past decade.

The cryptocurrency success story of recent years has forged a prosperous relationship with casino gaming. Transactions at online casinos account for approximately half of all total Bitcoin transactions. The ‘provably fair’ algorithms of blockchain technology make cryptocurrencies and online casinos a perfect fit for one another.

Players have full transparency with the house and enjoy the certainty that no interference or odds fixing has taken place between the casino and the end-user. 2021 sees the continued growth of the crypto-casino.

The safe money seems still to be in the casino market. Legislation looks to be only heading in a positive direction and with fewer restrictions, all but guaranteeing more success for the industry.