The online gambling industry is a financial behemoth that is, year on year, growing relentlessly and swallowing up more and more market share from land-based casinos. In 2020, global online gambling revenues were estimated at $465.76 billion.
By the end of 2021, that figure is expected to rise by more than 10% to $516.03 billion with analysts attributing much of that growth with relaxed laws and attitudes appearing in the West. Canada is a western country where online gambling and online casinos have grown in popularity as attitudes towards gambling have become more positive, helping to contribute to the overall gambling growth. The range of casino games popular in Canada ranges from online slot machines to online table game classes like poker and blackjack. In this article though, we are not interested with the intricacies of individual game data and popularity.
Rather, we are interested in the role that mobile phones have played in transforming online gambling from a niche pastime to a mainstream activity that could be worth a trillion dollars in the next 10 years.
Read on to find out how that 4.7 x 5.5-inch device in your back pocket has revolutionised the gambling industry.
The Early Days of Online Gambling
In 1994, Microgaming launched the world’s first ever online casino which by today’s standards could be generously termed as ‘primitive’. In addition to the clunky feel of the website, it was only accessible to those privileged enough to have a home PC.
The average cost of which in 1994 was around $1,400 which in today’s money would be $2,500, so it would be safe to say that online gambling, when it was first created was a pursuit only available to the well-off.
In addition to the cost of owning a PC, there was the hurdle of making payments and withdrawing winnings. Earlier last year, lawmakers in Kenya made global news when they approved legislation to allow mobile gambling payments.
In 1994 in the US and other western countries, online gamblers had to disconnect their PC from the phone line before ringing up the company to make deposits for their online account over the phone.
Winnings would more often than not be paid out in the form of cheques too, which left players waiting well over a month to avail of the big winnings they had made at the online roulette table.
Gaming started off on PC’s and consoles.
It was not for another 20 years that online gambling would really morph into a product that we could recognise today. Around 2004 – 2005, there was a real boom in the number of online gambling companies operating across the globe.
The majority of these sites could be accessed from PC or laptop devices and whilst still being seen as clunky with today’s eyes, were quite revolutionary at the time.
Year on year, small tweaks were made to online gambling sites to make them more appealing to customers, however in the main, online gambling was still a niche until…
2007 – The Advent of the Smartphone
In 2007 Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced to a specially assembled crowd that his company would be releasing an iPod, a phone and an internet communicator. The revolutionary thing was that all of those things would be included in the one device.
The world’s very first truly smart phone was born and within a few short years it would revolutionise the way that all of us live our lives. In terms of gambling, the online sector was relatively late to react to the creation of the smartphone.
Whilst other industries were scrambling to invest in apps and people who could develop them and run them, gambling companies were still focusing on PC and laptop compatibility.
It was not until around 2013 that mainstream gambling companies began to invest in specially designed mobile apps. Up until that point the majority of providers were content to allow their players to gamble on clunky mobile optimised webpages that offered users a raw deal.
In 2007, global gambling companies had no idea how pivotal the unveiling of the first iPhone would be to their future business models.
2013 – Present – Mobile Optimisation
Over the last 8 years a lot has changed in the online gambling market, namely recognition on part of the industry’s biggest companies of the power and growth potential of mobile.
Whereas at the beginning of 2013 it was rare to find an online gambling company with a decent, functioning app, now it is impossible to find one without a good app. Any company worth their salt have spent time and money to create an app that measures up to their player’s expectations.
Which is wise considering that 44% of all bets placed in the UK are made on a mobile device, far outweighing PC & laptop wagers and in-person wagers. As an established online gambling territory, the UK is the perfect barometer of where the industry is headed.
In Canada, where the industry is not far behind its British counterpart there are similar figures showing the popularity of mobile casino betting. South of the border and heading into the US, the figures are slightly different.
That is because despite being seen as the spiritual home of gambling, most American states prohibit online casino gambling. At some point in the coming years that is expected to change, leading many American based companies to pre-emptively invest in mobile technology.
What Role Will Mobile Gaming Play in the Future?
It is not hyperbolic to suggest that without the invention of smartphones, the online gambling industry would be nothing compared to what it is today. The USP of online gambling is that it can be enjoyed anywhere and at any time, which without the smartphone would not have been possible.
In the coming years the smartphone will continue to be an integral part of online gambling, but that is not to say that it will be a mainstay forever. New inventions and innovations such as VR and AR technology could go some way to providing the industry with a new USP.
A device that at the time of writing, none of us has heard about could go on to have an even bigger impact on the online gambling industry than the smartphone. After all, the success of the smartphone has shown us that technology is one of the single most important facets of growth…
