Will Mobile Gambling Become Dominant in 2019?

Posted by Harry Kane on Wednesday, May 22, 2019

A couple of months ago, the UKGC released its annual Gambling Participation Report for 2018, with this document including several fascinating insights regarding current trends and the way in which people wager nationwide.

One of the most interesting findings was the continued rise of mobile gambling, which has been empowered by significant technological advancement and the continued sophistication of smartphones and tablets.

We’ll explore this trend further in the post below, whilst asking whether mobile gambling is likely to become the dominant iGaming platform in the months ahead?

The Facts and Figures – Appraising the Rise of Mobile Gambling

The headline figures from the report revealed that over 55% of British gamblers had wagered through a tablet or smartphone in the year ending December 2018.

This figure represents a year-on-year increase of 4%, with 51% of respondents having gambled on a mobile device at the end of 2017.

Whilst online and mobile gambling participation may well have increased during the last 12 months. However, the overall level of engagement amongst British residents actually declined during the same period of time.

In fact, the number of people taking part in any form of gambling declined by 1% year-on-year in December 2018, from 46% to 45%. This betrays a drop in the number of people wagering offline in the UK, as land-based bookmakers and bricks-and-mortar casinos continue to see a decline in annual traffic.

The key takeaway here is clear; as while participation continues to waver through offline gambling channels (a trend that’s likely to continue now that the FOBT cap has finally come into play), the iGaming sector is continuing to grow at an exponential rate.

Mobile is undoubtedly a key and increasingly influential driver of the iGaming space, which grew by a whopping 13.7% in the year ending March 2018 and achieved a cumulative GGY of £5.4 billion in the UK.

Mobile vs Laptop – Which Will Grow to Be Dominant by the End of 2019?

Another key consideration is a relative decline in the number of land-based establishments, which contrasts sharply with an iGaming sector that has continued to grow and diversify over the course of the last eight years or so.

Whilst this has undoubtedly created a scenario where virtual gambling is emerging as a genuinely dominant force (iGaming now accounts for 37% of the industry as a whole), the question that remains is how mobile gameplay compares to laptop and desktop activity in the UK?

In simple terms, the portability and ease of accessibility offered by smartphones afford it a competitive advantage over other gambling channels, and recent advancements in technology have finally enabled handsets to realise their full potential.

It’s also estimated that 67% of the global population will own a mobile phone by the end of 2019, whilst 94% of all adults in the UK are thought to possess a smartphone. These numbers have increased exponentially during the last decade, whilst contemporary smartphones enable users to access online casinos securely across 3 and 4G connections.

As a result of this, mobile phones have become the second most popular channel amongst online gamblers in the UK, with 44% of respondents wagering through their handset. In contrast, 45% of virtual gamblers access online casinos through a laptop device, although the trajectory of these numbers offers far greater insight into the marketplace as a whole.

For example, the number of people who wagered through their smartphone increased by 5% in the year ending December 2018, whereas participation through laptop devices declined by the same rate. This translates into a 10% swing in just 12 months, and if this trend continues, then mobile gambling will become the dominant channel by the end of the year.

Another interesting takeaway here is the demographic split of mobile users, with men now increasingly likely to wager through their smartphone or tablet. In fact, mobile phone participation amongst men rose by a staggering 17% in the year ending December 2018, peaking at 57% by the end of this time-frame.

The rate of mobile participation amongst women also increased during this time, albeit at a slightly reduced rate. Overall, the number of women wagering on their mobile device increased by 5% to 43% in 2018, with this steady growth expected to continue well into the future.

Exploring Age Demographics and the Future of Mobile Usage

Whilst it’s often to predict long-term trends in the iGaming market, it’s fair to surmise that mobile gambling will become increasingly popular over the course of the next decade or so.

After all, it’s gamblers aged between 18 and 44 who are most likely to wager through smartphones or multiple devices, whereas tablets are preferred by the over-65 demographic due to their larger screen sizes.

Overall, the 25 to 34 age group showcased the most significant increase in mobile participation, with more than 70% of this demographic now likely to wager through their smartphone. The 35 to 44 age group also registered a 7% increase in mobile participation during 2018, with an impressive 58% of this demographic now expected to gamble using a mobile device.

With younger gamblers increasingly likely to wager through a smartphone or tablet, it’s hard to dispute the assertion that mobile gambling will become the dominant iGaming channel within a very short space of time.

In fact, it’s likely that mobile usage while have superseded laptops by the end of 2018, with male players leading this charge and triggering a sea-change in the industry as a whole.

In the longer-term, it’s also likely that mobile gameplay will help the iGaming market to ultimately dominate the UK gambling industry. More specifically, it’s expected that iGaming will account for more than 40% of the gambling sector as a whole by the end of 2019, whilst it could generate more than 50% of the market’s total GGY by 2025.

This will certainly be the case if the current growth rate is maintained, and whilst this cannot be guaranteed given the volatility that currently underpins the UK gambling industry it’s clear that mobile usage will prove pivotal if this objective is to be successfully achieved.