The success of online sportsbooks and casinos has helped the global gambling industry become one of the biggest growth sectors on the planet.
With technology continuing to evolve at a rapid rate, its upward trajectory looks set to continue for many more years to come.
Given how much the online gambling landscape has been transformed in recent years, it will be intriguing to monitor how things develop in the future.
With that in mind, we look at some of the top trends to watch in the global gambling industry, starting with an area which is vital to its success.
Digital Payments
Digital payment technology has made it much easier for people to fund their online gambling activities, providing them with secure ways to make deposits and withdrawals.
That point is highlighted to perfection in leading jurisdictions such as Australia, where bettors have gravitated away from card payments towards safer digital options such as PayPal.
According to MyBettingAustralia, a comparison platform for betting sites, PayPal betting sites in Australia have become increasingly popular in recent years.
With PayPal recently announcing it is launching its own stablecoin to enhance its digital payment offering, debit cards may become redundant in the gambling sector before the end of the decade.
New Gambling Jurisdictions
While the gambling industry is well established in Australia, United Kingdom and numerous other countries, there is still plenty of scope for further growth worldwide.
The Middle East has been widely tipped to become a big player in the online gambling sector, with the United Arab Emirates among the nations keen to jump on the bandwagon.
Given the strict nature of Middle Eastern laws, the UAE and other countries in the region have plenty of legislative hurdles to navigate over the next few years.
Although traversing through those waters will undoubtedly present plenty of challenges, the Middle East may soon emerge as a serious rival to more established gambling jurisdictions.
Betting on eSports
Many gambling operators previously paid lip service to eSports betting, offering punters a limited range of markets on a handful of major events each year.
However, with major broadcasters and sponsors falling over themselves to get involved with eSports, the gambling industry has been forced to up its game.
Several leading betting brands have forged strong links with eSports over the past year and we expect to see many more follow suit moving forward.
One key element worth monitoring is how betting companies address the issue of integrity in eSports, with the genre often negatively impacted by accusations of cheating.
Live Dealer Games
As mentioned at the outset, online casinos have contributed massively to the success of the online gambling industry since the first sites were launched in the 1990s.
While the technology has evolved massively since then, many players feel the games lack the excitement of playing them in a brick-and-mortar establishment.
Online operators have sought to address this issue by developing live casino games, which mirror the gameplay experience of visiting a land-based venue.
As online casinos invest more resources into live games, they may eventually completely replace the digital variants over the next few years.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology already influences numerous elements of the online gambling industry, but there is still plenty of scope for it to become even more impactful.
AI will increasingly be used to reduce the instances of problem gambling, with the technology capable of quickly identifying issues whenever they arise.
The provision of more personalised betting experiences is another area where AI will likely have a major impact on online gambling in the short to medium term.
By using AI to personalise bonuses and promotions, gambling operators will be able to target new customers more effectively and improve their chances of retaining existing clients.
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality (VR) technology has long been tipped to be the ‘next big thing’ in the online gambling industry, but limitations in the supporting hardware hindered its progress.
However, as evidenced by leading developers Evolution Gaming, VR technology finally looks ready to be truly transformative in the sector.
The company successfully launched the first live VR casino game to widespread critical acclaim and are working on numerous other titles for iGaming operators.
VR is also expected to impact sports betting, with the recent launch of a new VR betting platform likely to be the first of many within the industry.
