In only the past five years, online gambling’s popularity has exploded. Since their introduction, internet casinos and poker rooms have skyrocketed in popularity, resulting in the stratospheric growth in wealth of its owners. Avi and Aaron Shaked, the founders of Cassava Enterprises (888), recently floated their firm on the London Stock Exchange, increasing its valuation to more than $700.0 million. Ruth Parasol, co-founder of party gaming, recently went public with her company and become a fortune overnight. However, where does this lead? Surely the industry can’t keep producing riches at the dizzying pace we’ve seen over the previous two years.
It’s important to keep in mind that the gambling world wide web is still in its infancy. Rough estimates place the launch of the first online casino sometime around 1995. Around 1999, as internet speeds increased, more vibrant games with sharper visuals and game play were released, and the industry began to fully capitalize on the online market. With more and more business owners realizing the potential profits from operating an online gambling site, the sector is developing at a breakneck pace nowadays.
It is estimated that there are now over 2,000 active internet casinos, each one eager to grab your hard-earned cash. There is a wide variety of trustworthy and dishonest websites available, making it difficult to find one you can trust. The ease with which a new online gambling site can be launched is a major factor in why there are so many of them. There is no need for the owner of an online poker network to worry about attracting a base number of players because the network may be set up for several thousand pounds. Having users on the owner’s site interact with users on the software provider’s site is a really simple path to market.
Affiliate marketing is now a standard practice in the online gaming industry. Here is a quick explanation of affiliate marketing for people who aren’t familiar with the term. Businesses that have goods or services to sell often strike affiliate marketing partnerships with website owners, under which the latter will receive a cut of any sales made as a result of a visitor coming from the company’s site. Among the largest and most lucrative in the industry, the commissions provided by online gambling operators range from 10% to 50% of net gaming income (player losses) or up to $500 CPA (cost per acquisition). Due to the high stakes involved, the online gambling industry has become the most competitive sector of the internet, with the most lucrative keywords bringing in over $1 million annually for the top ranking websites.
So, what does the near future hold for online casinos? As was previously noted, the iGaming sector is still in its nascent stage. One thing is certain: as the market develops, there will be numerous unexpected turns. There are numerous parallels that can be seen between the supermarkets in the UK and the ones in the US. It may seem odd to choose a completely different sector, but please bear with me. There were lots of mom-and-pop stores in the ’50s, and everything was done on a small scale, just like the online gaming sector is now. As a small number of stores began to generate more revenue, they expanded and began acquiring competitors. The internet gambling market is just now beginning to show signs of this.
Constructing a Brand Came Next. As competitors like Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and others began to publicize their existence and raise awareness of their operations, it bolstered consumers’ confidence in these stores, which is crucial in the iGaming sector. This is clearly happening now with the most popular poker rooms and casinos. Middlesbrough Football Club and the World Snooker Championship are two of the many events that 888 has sponsored. The foundation was established this year thanks to the support of Party Poker and Betfair, who sponsored the cricket series between England and Australia known as the Ashes.
After this, there will be considerable consolidation. It’s expected that the trend toward poker rooms and casinos merging and being acquired by larger establishments will continue. After that, where do we stand? Supermarkets with casinos, poker rooms, and bingo halls: Walmart, Tesco, and Sainsbury’s. It’s ironic that they’ll likely make more money than their grocery store counterparts.