Although the last two years have wrought economic havoc on many industries and sectors, one of the surprise performers has been the online casino and gambling sector.
In fact, despite having experienced steady growth over the last number of years, the online gambling sector has performed exceptionally well during the pandemic, even though this is one of the most turbulent periods in well over a decade.
But looking towards 2022, is the outlook quite so rosy? Can we expect to see the same levels of revenues get posted by online casinos—such as those listed on Casinomobile.co.za as the world begins to open up again after the pandemic?
Keep reading for a quick run-down of some of the trends we can expect to see going into 2022!
What are the industry projections?
According to the recently published ‘Gambling: Global Market Opportunities & Strategies to 2022’—an annual industry report on the gambling sector—initial projections for 2022 are already looking very healthy.
Although they are just projections, it is already looking like the global gambling market will hit a staggering $565 billion by year-end. This represents a growth rate of just under 6% for the year. And while this isn’t necessarily as high as we saw in 2021, it still bodes well for the industry.
Another strong indication is a figure put out by the research company ‘Juniper Research.’ They estimate that the total value of online wagers could reach $1 trillion by the end of the year. This figure represents the full value of wagers as a whole, rather than just the revenue gambling and casino companies will post.
Payment processing innovations
The figures just set out certainly give us a good picture of the industry’s health as a whole. However, there are other developments and trends we should be keeping an eye on to get a sense of the industry’s future direction.
One area of technological development that will prove particularly important is payments processing. New payment methods will allow customers to more easily make and receive payments to and from online casinos—which will, in turn, help increase turnover—but these new methods will also help online casinos cut down on any associated costs.
Cryptocurrency payments, in particular, will prove increasingly important. As one of the earliest adopters of cryptocurrency technology, online casinos look set to continue supporting this revolutionary new technology.
These payment methods will help online casinos reduce their reliance on the traditional banking and payment processing industry, which have historically been relatively slow and costly. Decreasing their dependence on these methods will reduce the costs associated with payment processing and help increase the efficiency of the industry as a whole.
With that said, we can expect cryptocurrencies and digital wallets to become an increasingly common feature in the online casino world and for adoption among users to rise rapidly.
Land-based casinos continue their decline
Another trend we can most definitely expect to see in the coming year is the continued decrease in the popularity of land-based casinos.
Although there will still be some demand in popular destinations like Las Vegas, Macau, and Monaco—which have long histories of gambling—in general, the shift away from physical casinos looks set to continue.
Brick and mortar casinos were particularly hard hit by the pandemic, which forced many of them to close for months on end. Many physical casinos will be unable to financially recover from these closures, particularly as operating costs have gone up with inflation and the added cost of the health and safety measures the pandemic has brought about.
On the other hand, online casinos have had a bumper year in terms of user sign-ups and increases in revenue.
This has caused the gap between physical and online casinos to grow considerably, which looks set to continue going forward into 2022. Online casinos understandably have lower operating costs and can be scaled up or down in response to customer demand. Furthermore, they are not as reliant on enticing customers with other amenities such as hotels, bars, and restaurants.
This has also been compounded by a much broader shift from in-person to online casinos, which has been underway for at least the last decade. For this reason, 2022 could be the year where we enter the final stage of this transition.
