A
majority of industry experts anticipate significant near-term growth of the
online gambling sector, both in the U.S. and abroad, according to results of
the 10th annual G2E Future Watch survey released at Global Gaming Expo in Las
Vegas.
Whether
or not there is federal legislation passed to legalize and regulate online
poker in the U.S.-and only 6 percent of the experts surveyed think the U.S.
Congress is likely to do so within the next year-a solid majority (61 percent)
envision the U.S. market growing to $10 billion or more over the next several
years. Americans are estimated to have spent nearly $4 billion wagering online
in 2011. A similar percentage of the experts surveyed also think that online
gambling worldwide-which totaled $30 billion in revenue in 2011-will grow by 50
percent or more over the next five years. Over half (56 percent) of experts think
this revenue could reach between $45 billion and $60 billion by 2017.
These
are just some of several key findings from the 10th edition of the G2E Future
Watch Series, an original research product that highlights current and
forthcoming trends within the gaming industry. The annual Future Watch survey
polls a select but high-level group of industry leaders. In this year’s
installment, leading gaming executives, regulators and analysts shared their
thoughts on online gambling-one of the fastest growing and most hotly debated
sectors within the broader gaming industry.
“Online
gambling continues to be the most talked about issue in the industry,” said
Frank Fahrenkopf, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association (AGA),
said in prepared statement. “With that
in mind, this year’s survey results hone in on online gambling’s prospects for
growth, its regulatory hurdles, responsible gaming in an online environment and
what the U.S. market in particular might look like in the coming years.”
When
asked about responsible gaming in an online environment, confidence is
relatively high that effective safeguards can be put in place to combat fraud
(both by players and operators), money laundering, underage and compulsive
gambling, and players falsifying their location. In each of these aspects, over
half of the experts were either “very” or “somewhat” confident about the
safeguards.
Looking
abroad to highly regulated jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, the vast
majority of respondents think technology has done “very well” or “somewhat
well” to prevent underage and problem gambling, money laundering and cheating.
A majority of experts (61 percent) think the proven track records of these
highly regulated jurisdictions make U.S. elected officials somewhat more likely
to legalize online wagering in the U.S., while one-third thinks experiences in
other jurisdictions will have no impact at all on U.S. lawmakers’ views.
Despite
only 6 percent believing U.S. legislation is likely within the next year, a
significantly larger portion of the experts foresee it eventually happening in
the future. Nearly two in five respondents (39 percent) think Congress will
enact some form of legislation in the next one to two years, while another 28
percent forecast this taking place within a three-to-five-year window. Experts
are evenly divided over whether online sports betting would be legalized in the
U.S. within the next five to 10 years, but are nearly unanimous in their
opinion that online lotteries will either “definitely” (39 percent) or “probably”
(56 percent) be operational on an interstate basis in the U.S. within three to
five years. They are nearly as hopeful about interstate online poker, with 78
percent saying it will “definitely” or “probably” be up and running within the
same time frame. The experts are less optimistic about interstate online casino
games operating within the same period, with 28 percent calling it doubtful and
only 6 percent seeing it as something that will “definitely” happen.
Regardless
of whether it is regulated on a federal or state-by-state basis, a majority of
the experts say that the legalization of online gambling in the U.S. will
complement, rather than cannibalize, existing bricks-and-mortar operators.
While one in four think it will hurt existing operations, 55 percent think
online gambling would “very much” (11 percent) or “somewhat help grow” (44
percent) existing business.
With
respect to the December 2011 opinion issued by the U.S. Department of Justice
(DOJ) reinterpreting the Interstate Wire Act of 1961, the vast majority of
respondents agree with the notion that “there is now nothing to stop states
from entering into compacts for online gambling with other states or even
foreign nations.” Among the online gambling experts, there is broad agreement
(47 percent “very much agree” and 41 percent “somewhat agree”) that the DOJ
opinion has left the U.S. Congress with essentially two options-either enact
some type of legislation at the federal level, or watch as a patchwork quilt of
approaches to legalization and regulation get approved on a state-by-state
basis.
Lastly,
the experts weighed in on emerging technologies within online gambling. More
than three-quarters (83 percent) of respondents say that partnerships between
gaming brands and social networks-like Facebook’s recently introduced gaming
app in the U.K. that permits users to play with real money-will be important to
the overall growth of the online gambling industry. But, by far, mobile
gaming-chosen two-to-one over social networking-is seen as the emerging
technology most likely to affect the online gambling sector.
A total of 18 respondents – all top executives in the field –
participated in this year’s Future Watch survey.
Gaming executives see bright days ahead for Web wagering
October 5, 2012
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