If you’re considering starting a business online, and you have a little start-up capital to play with, you could do a lot worse than getting involved in the burgeoning world of online casinos. Whether you operate a standalone site or you buy into a franchise model, it’s a rapidly expanding industry which is making more money with every passing month.
Simply put, there are a number of different factors which are making online casinos such a profitable enterprise in the here and now – and as we move to the end of the current decade and head into the 2020s, it’s difficult to see anything changing that trend. Profits were in excess of $56bn by the end of 2018. That’s more than double the level they were at ten years previously. You’d have a difficult job finding any other industry which is growing at such a rate. Let’s have a look at some of the developments which have led us to this point.
The Legalization Of Sports Betting In America
When people think of online gambling sites or related casinos, they usually think of all the traditional casino games that people can play online. For the uninitiated, that’s games like roulette, poker, blackjack, and slots. There’s a completely different revenue stream which most people don’t immediately associate with casinos, and sports betting. While there are several specialist global sports bookmakers, in America the sports betting market is largely run by existing casino companies.
You don’t need us to tell you that America is a massive market, and the market for sports betting in the country is only going to increase as the idea catches hold. We’re just beginning the second year of sports betting in the United States, and around half of the states who have formally legalized the practice are yet to provide their first license. When they do, the market will grow even faster. In places such as New Jersey, which was an early adopter of sports betting, online gambling revenues are already at record-setting levels.
The Rise Of The Smartphone
The current explosion of online casinos wouldn’t be happening if it wasn’t possible to access those casinos on mobile phones. Technology has progressed to the point where people can connect to a casino website using a device in the palm of their hand, and they can play casino games just as safely and securely as they could if they were sitting in front of their computers – or even sat inside a physical casino.
More than any other form of gambling, the aspect of the online casino world which has seen the most significant benefit from smartphones is slots. Slots were once cabinets that stood in the corners of casino and bars. They became more popular as a form of gambling once they became available online. Now, the preferred format is mobile slots. Quality mobile slots websites play host to hundreds of different mobile slots games. A player could be sat in a cafe on their lunch break from work, and so long as there’s a reliable internet signal, they could have access to any mobile slots game they desired. Where there’s availability, there’s money to be made. The casino companies are making it.
Enhanced Visibility
Gambling has never been quite as visible as it is right now. Once upon a time, it was the preserve of (mostly) men in dingy, badly-lit casinos and parlors. With the exception of the eternally-popular Las Vegas, gambling wasn’t considered an accessible or glamorous hobby. Now it’s everywhere, and it’s advertised constantly. At the same time as becoming more accessible, it’s also diversified.
If you’re a soccer fan (which accounts for roughly half of the world’s population), you probably watch games from the English Premier League regularly. More than half of the teams in that league are currently sponsored by gambling companies. All of these companies are in competition with each other, and that compels them to offer great deals to their customers. They also want to open themselves up to as many players as possible, which has seen the creation of casino websites aimed specifically at female players. Online casinos have taken the hobby out of the smoky basements, and into the mainstream.
Better Pricing For Players
Online gambling often has an advantage over gambling that happens in a brick-and-mortar casino, and it’s all about overheads. A traditional casino has to pay for all the bills which come with operating its premises. That means lease or rental payments, power bills, licensing costs, staff costs, food costs, and all the rest. Online casinos still have to acquire licenses, and they have to pay for bandwidth and hosting costs, but none of the other financial pressures apply.
They can (and do) pass these savings on to their customers in a number of different ways. You’ll often find that the RTP (return-to-player) rate on a mobile slots game is much higher than the RTP rate of a slot machine in a casino or bar, because a mobile slots game doesn’t have to pay for the ground it stands on. That means players have a better chance of winning – and therefore they also have a reason to choose the mobile form of the game over the physical form. Land-based casinos often have entry prices too – a charge on the door, and perhaps also a charge for the services of a croupier or dealer. Again, that doesn’t apply to an online casino.
As if all of the above weren’t enough, there are signs that more countries around the world are going to relax their laws and go looking for their own slice of gambling revenue. After years of debating the topic, Japan formally decided to legalize gambling last year, and is currently in the process of setting up its first casinos. Once they’re open, it’s likely to be a matter of time before online gambling follows. Brazil, which is an enormous country, has been showing signs that it’s about to legalize gambling, too.
From all we’ve just said, it’s clear to see that it’s an exciting time to be involved in the online casino industry. That’s why it could be a solid idea for an online business if you have the skills and knowledge, or a large-scale investment if you have the money without the casino experience.
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