A 1,000-page report released by the Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, or GBGC, outlines how the land-based gaming community will likely suffer during the worldwide financial crisis, which will allow remote I-gaming to become the “hot spot.”
”People are leaving their cars in the garage, playing online bingo or watching a match on TV and placing a bet from the comfort of an armchair,” said Warwick Bartlett, chief executive of GBGC, in a prepared statement. ”The land-based businesses are going to find it hard to compete with the value on the Internet, and with as much as 30 percent of gambling revenue now leaving the U.K. and going offshore, the government should take note.”
Entitled “Change is on the Cards,” the report says the world's gambling market is set to grow from $345 billion in 2007 to $433 billion by 2012, though these numbers won’t translate to all sectors.
”The slowdown in the U.S.A. will hit the pockets of Americans and Las Vegas will feel the effect of that along with high energy costs and a transportation system reliant on road and air,” Mr. Bartlett said. “The U.S. has not invested sufficiently in high-speed rail and destination resorts going forward will suffer as the cost of carbon-based fuels continues to be an issue of cost and supply.”