Net Betting and the Future
Spring is springing in IGN's hometown, and just like the many flowers outside our office that are poking their heads through the earth, new studies about the Internet gambling industry cropping up.
- A 195-page study from Merrill Lynch says, "U.K. gambling is poised to enter a golden era of long-term structural growth." Stimulating this growth are several factors: online gambling, the upcoming switch from betting duty to a corporate tax on gross profits, and likely changes to gaming regulations resulting from the Gambling Review Body's report due out this summer.
Merrill Lynch foresees massive growth for the online gambling industry over the next 15 years, eventually being worth £123 billion ($178,300,800,026) by 2015. The study broke down the numbers, saying that turnover for online sports betting could be worth £100 billion ($1,479,332,964,510,039), while seeing online casinos worth £148 billion ($2,762,249,764,379,605) or £3.6 billion in consumer spending
($68,969,096,413,592), and valued Internet lotteries at £20 billion ($389,482,038,149,577). By Merrill Lynch's estimation, the current global gambling market, both legal and illegal, is worth £580 million
($840,768,000,099).
Some more interesting figures:
- Horse racing accounts for 11 percent of all gambling while sports betting brings in 26 percent.
- Among horserace betting, more than 80 percent is done through pari-mutuel systems, with 57 percent of that figure originating from the Middle East and Far East. Japan brings in 40 percent of horse racing's turnover, while the U.K. only accounts for 8 percent.
- Nearly half of all sports betting comes from North America, where such betting is usually illegal.
- Gambling accounts for 5.5 percent of consumer spending in Australia, 1.8 percent in Asia, 1 percent in North America and 0.9 percent in the U.K.
- Global Betting & Gaming Consultants has also released a study, which looks at land-based and Internet gambling revenues. Among their findings:
- The total amount gambling in Japan is seven times greater than that in the U.K.
- Hong Kong racing leads the pack in terms of average amount of money bet per race-- a whopping £10 million ($14.4 million) is bet per race at the Sha Tin racetrack;
- Japan's horserace gambling is 4.5 times greater than that of the U.K., and has a gross value of only £1.5 billion ($2.167 billion) less than the combined value of the U.S., Hong Kong, the U.K. and Australia.
- The River City Group and Christiansen Capital Advisors have just released their second joint industry study, "E-Gambling: Wagering on the Internet." This strategic analysis of the online gambling industry offers valuable insight into the e-gambling industry accumulated during four years of research. Among the reams of information included in the study, "Wagering on the Internet" shows:
- Global consumer spending on Internet gambling will rise from an estimated $2.2 billion in 2000 to nearly $6.4 billion in 2003.
- The total amount bet online on sporting and other events is likely to rise from $15 billion in 1999 to $63.5 billion by 2003.
- The number of Internet gamblers will grow from 4 million in 1999 to 15 million by 2004, while the share of U.S. players will decline from nearly 80 percent in 1999 to 38 percent by 2004.
- Pari-mutuel wagering handle will probably grow from $2.5 billion in 2000 to $9.4 billion by 2004.
"Wagering on the Internet" can be ordered online at http://www.rivercitygroup.com/brochure/industry_studies.html or by calling 636-946-0820. The study is available as a 133-page book with supplementary documents on CD-ROM, and costs $2,995.
Where are the Winners?
U.K. National Lottery operator Camelot has been puzzled by why at least £372 million in prize money has gone uncollected over the past seven years, reports The Guardian. Among those uncollected winnings is a May 1996 prize for £2 million, while six other unclaimed prizes are each worth more than £1 million. Since 1995, more than 80 people have failed to retrieve their winnings valued at more than £50,000.
Why does this happen? Psychologist Dr. Mark Griffiths speculated, "Many people create rituals about how they play the lottery. For example, a popular one is that they never look at the numbers at the time of the draw. This could be because they once had a win that they did not look until, say, the Monday after and believe they will be lucky if they stick to this routine. Then, when Monday comes, they may forget."
Another reason could be that winners may doubt their chance of actually having the winning numbers, so never actually check to see how their choice fared. Thus, they never discover that they held the winning ticket after all.
Metro Detroit Counts Its Problem Gamblers
The University of Michigan-Dearborn has just released findings from a study they conducted for the local United Way that looked at the incidence and prevalence of problem gambling in Detroit and surrounding areas. A total of 1,200 residents participated in the telephone survey.
According to the study, 85 percent of metro Detroit residents have gambled at some time, and 79 percent in the past year. The lottery was the most popular form of gambling cited by respondents (76 percent). Casinos were second at 61 percent.
Metro Detroiters ages 18 to 25 are thought to be most at risk of becoming problem gamblers. They gamble more often and lose more money than older groups. African Americans and other non-white respondents are less likely to have ever gambled than are whites, but are more likely to become problem
gamblers if they do gamble. The survey found that current problem gamblers make up one of every ten minority gamblers, but only three of every 100 white gamblers.
"The problem of gambling is now receiving a great deal of attention nation-wide, due to the increased number of casinos and other forms of gambling," said Paul Wong, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts, Sciences and Letters at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. "It is an important time to study the magnitude of problem gambling and to assure that there are prevention and treatment programs developed for those who are considered problem or pathological gamblers."
Asian Gamblers under the Microscope
Gambling, online and offline, is big business in Asia. In Hong Kong, for example, the reach of gambling domains for Hong Kong surfers has increased from 21.8 percent in October to 35.8 percent in November and 40.2 percent in January, according to new findings from NetValue. Hong Kong surfers visited
these sites and stuck around for 40.4 minutes, whereas Net surfers from other nations tended to spend less than a half-hour on such sites. Taiwan surfers spent the shortest amount of time at online gambling sites - 1.9 minutes.
Taiwanese gamblers tend to be less affluent, with those surfers that have NTD$8,000 or less in income representing just over 36 percent of reach. Those with an income greater than NTD$130,000, however, had a reach of less than 1 percent.
Asian online gamblers also tend fall into two main age brackets: aged 15 to 24 (41.6 percent), or aged 25 to 34 (30.9 percent). Men represented 63.1 percent of reach.
NetValue also found that the top five gambling domains during January 2001 were 1) trustedcasinos.com, 2) speedyclick.com, 3) onlinegamblingreview.com, 4) ilotto.com.tw and 5) mousebucks.com.