How Has Offline Gambling Remained Competitive?
Posted by Harry Kane on Thursday, May 25, 2017
Let’s start with a basic assertion; online gambling represents one of the true growth industries of the modern age.
It is often accredited with sounding the death knell for land-based gambling and operators, however, despite the fact that data from the last seven years or so suggests otherwise. In fact, aside from an ailing bingo industry, the level of offline gambling activity has increased across number pastimes and niches.
In this post, we will discuss the relationship between on and offline gambling, and look at how technological advancement has been able to sustain the growth of land-based establishments.
The Offline Gambling Market in Numbers
As we have already stated, the offline bingo sector has seen a huge decline in revenue since 2010. This is an exception to the general rule, however, with high street bookmakers and land-based casinos recording steady and incremental growth during the same period. Apart from William Hill, three of the four largest bookmaker brands in the UK have increased their physical presence during the last decade, with an estimated 8.958 betting premises active as of 2015.
In terms of offline casinos, these entitles have also grown as the virtual market share has grown. So, despite the fact that 33% of all UK gambling revenue in 2016 was generated online, land-based casinos are continuing to increase their turnover and annual consumer base. Between 2008 and 2014, for example, the total amount of revenue generated by land-based casinos in Britain increased from £16.6 million to £21.01 million.
Now, while this rate of growth is dwarfed by the virtual marketplace, it is still far from negligible and extremely impressive when you consider the challenges that exist within the industry.
What Does This Tell Us About Land-based Gambling?
At surface level, these statistics highlight the enduring popularity of land-based gaming throughout the UK. It is inaccurate to say that land-based casinos and bookmakers have not evolved during the last decade, however, and if we delve beyond the numbers we see that bricks-and-mortar establishments have sustained themselves largely by leveraging the immense potential of technology.
From the presence of video poker rooms in land-based casinos to the use of cryptocurrency Bitcoin in a growing number of establishments, physical outlets are now integrating virtual gameplay and payment solutions to reaffirm their relevance. In short, they have adopted elements of online gaming to create cross-platform experiences that appeal to modern gamblers, extending their longevity and increasing revenues as a result. So in reality, it is the rise of virtual gambling and the technology that underpins it which continues to sustain land-based activity, as the two work in unison to improve the customer experience.
This is unlikely to continue indefinitely, of course, particularly as the online sector continues to grow and claim a larger share of the overall market. As virtual gameplay becomes more dominant and continues to diversify in the future (while also embracing advanced technologies such as virtual reality), land-based gambling will gradually become obsolete as we usher in a brand new generation of players.