Betting Popularity at an All-Time High: What It Means for New Online Casinos
Betting has long been a key part of the sports experience. Countless people flock to online casinos to enjoy a diverse range of games, from slots and poker to blackjack, dice, roulette, and many other unique or familiar games offered by well-known online brands.
In the modern age, with the rise of online casinos and sportsbooks, betting has become virtually ubiquitous. Interestingly, the regulatory side of online gambling has become simultaneously stricter in some jurisdictions and more liberalized in others.
As online gambling giants enter the U.S. market after recent legalization, the question of what the future holds for the market has become increasingly mainstream and a hot topic among industry insiders and regulators alike.
Why Betting is Surging in Popularity
The increasing popularity of online betting is not an isolated incident, but rather may be attributed to changing demographics, broader social acceptance, and the globalization of sports.
As the Millennial and Gen Z generations become the primary consumption base globally, the acceptance of online betting is also rising. Younger people find the idea of many new casinos providing access without verification very appealing, and increasingly view betting as a conscious choice that is not misaligned with their ethics.
The rise to prominence of crypto casinos has greatly boosted the popularity of online betting, providing an added benefit of privacy and speed to an otherwise scrutinized industry.
How Hybrid Casinos Stand Out
Hybrid betting has gradually become the default service package offered to online punters. The modern user is not satisfied with having to register at multiple different platforms to access both casino games and sports betting, which is why most reputable online iGaming brands now offer a combination of both.
Switching from playing slots and poker to betting on a UEFA Champions League fixture, or an ongoing CS2 Major, has become standard practice for habitual online punters.
This gives users the ability to engage with the platform based on what they feel like at any given moment.
Since casino games and sports betting are so different in nature, it also gives hybrid casinos the ability to cast a wider net and attract many different types of punters.
Challenges Facing New Casinos
While hybrid casinos have a higher chance of rapid expansion into new markets, there are numerous regulatory hurdles for international iGaming companies.
Some of the most lucrative markets are also highly regulated, often to a degree that makes it nearly impossible for them to obtain the necessary licenses to operate legitimately.
Newly launched casinos often do not possess the liquidity required to endure the first several years of entering a highly competitive and regulated market, as the initial marketing spend can be prohibitively high.
Additionally, most new casinos are domiciled in offshore jurisdictions, which are generally not trusted in the United States and the EU.
This greatly complicates the expansion process for new online casinos, often leading to a period of slow growth.
On the other hand, many online casinos and sportsbooks now allow crypto deposits and withdrawals to cater to an ever more privacy-conscious market.
Regulatory Diversity and New Markets
As we have briefly discussed, the regulations overseeing online casinos and the iGaming industry as a whole are very diverse and vary greatly between countries.
For instance, the European Union is home to both Malta and Greece, which are the most liberal and the most restrictive jurisdictions for online casinos, respectively.
Despite this, Greece has made some strides towards modernizing its iGaming regulations in recent years, which has made way for local online casinos to develop and thrive. These brands are in line with local regulations and are actively working to expand their reach beyond Greek borders.
The Future of Online Casinos
As a growing number of jurisdictions see the value of liberalizing their regulatory structures to accommodate online casinos and sportsbooks, the global iGaming industry is likely to grow considerably in the coming years.
Advanced features like self-exclusion, responsible gambling initiatives, seamless integration across multiple devices, and a combination of crypto and fiat deposit/withdrawal options ensure that client onboarding is becoming increasingly simple for online casinos.
Furthermore, offshore jurisdictions, like Curacao and the BVI, are focusing more on developing adjacent digital infrastructure, such as fast online banking, iGaming-focused credit offerings, and payment channels to make them more competitive and increase the value proposition of domiciling online casinos there.
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