I have borrowed this from the Cryptologic thread. It was originally posted by Mephistopheles. Much better to just access the URL rather than read what I copied to this thread, for that site has much better organization of the data, and has graphs that could not be transferred. You will like what you read. Trust me. Also access its homesite at: datamonitor.com R
Lots of great stories here.
datamonitor.com
15 June 1998, Datamonitor Plc
Online gambling revenues will break the
$10 billion barrier by 2002
../Back to Press Releases
As more people look to the Internet to provide more than simply surfing and email, gaming and
gambling online have been transformed from merely interesting concepts to represent fully-fledged
business opportunities.
A new report by Datamonitor, Online Games and Gambling, 1998-2002: Turning Potential
into Profit, reveals:
1.
Over $1 billion will be generated through online games and gambling by 2000
2.
Online games and gambling revenues are three times higher in the US than in Europe
1. Over $1 billion will be generated through online games and gambling by the turn of the
century
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It is no longer valid to talk of online games and gambling as merely interesting markets that belong to
some future era - these new interactive services have arrived and are already generating substantial
revenues.
According to Datamonitor, online gambling turnovers have the potential to dwarf those of other
interactive services, tapping into an existing traditional gambling market valued at over $700 billion
in Europe and the US alone. As operators seek to take advantage of the huge audience reach and
potential cost savings of the Internet, the number and range of services available to the consumer
continues to expand at a tremendous rate. Casinos, lotteries and sportsbooks dominate the new
market, allowing customers with an Internet connection and a credit card to gamble literally
anywhere in the world. With the most successful services turning over more than $1 million per
week, the current market value of $600 million is just the tip of the iceberg: Datamonitor forecasts
that over $10 billion will be gambled online by 2002.
Uncertainties as to the legality of online gambling, in particular in the US (where more than a dozen
arrests have already been made for operating online gambling services), have so far dissuaded the
majority of big traditional players from entering the fray. This, however, has not been the case with
online games, where big corporate players such as Microsoft, Sony, SegaSoft, BT, ICL, Electronic
Arts and News Corp. are already making their presence felt. Whilst small by comparison with
gambling in terms of revenues, playing games online is bringing a new dimension to the world of
computer games - introducing the thrill of human competition and changing perceptions of the
Internet as just an information resource to a genuine avenue for entertainment.
The online games market is currently valued at just $67 million. Services have found it hard to turn
potential into profit, hampered by high running costs and broad perceptions of the Internet as a free
domain. However, as technology improves, the range of games expands and the concept of online
entertainment moves to the mass market, this industry is set to boom.
2. Online games and gambling revenues are three times larger in the US than in Europe
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The US online games and gambling markets currently lead the way in the global scene. Aided by the
highest online population in the world, US revenues from online games and gambling are three times
higher than those generated in Europe. However, as the PC revolution continues apace in Europe,
Datamonitor expects the gap between the two markets to begin to close.
Concerns over the legality of gambling online in the US are likely to mean Europe will gain market
share, generating $3 billion in revenues by the year 2002, compared with just over $7 billion in the
US. Similarly, in the world of online games, Europe looks set to benefit from higher growth in the
number of online households. There are currently just 400,000 playing games online in Europe,
compared with over 1.5 million in the US.
Datamonitor analyst Michael Evason comments:
"The European online games market is only just beginning to form, but telecom operators, game
developers and network providers alike all stand to benefit from its success. It is unlikely that large
players, whether in Europe or the US, will miss the opportunity to shape a fledgling but potentially
lucrative market."
Whilst it currently makes sense to discuss these industries within a regional framework, they are by
nature global services and have the potential to transcend traditional geographic barriers:
Already around 20% of those playing online games with US services are connecting from
outside the US;
In contrast, although the majority of online gamblers are US citizens, partly due to legal
restrictions most services are operating from outside the US from places as diverse as the
Caribbean, Europe, Australia, and South Africa. |
