Underrated or Overexposed? Rethinking the Spotlight on Online Casinos

Many years ago, gambling was an activity you could only do in person. Whether you wanted a game of Poker or to play slots, you had to go to a physical casino location to get your needs met. These days, things are much different, as hundreds of online casinos are in operation around the world. While they certainly have their supporters, some might wonder whether online casinos are still an underrated gem in the industry or have become the norm.

To understand this, it is worth looking at the revenue for both online and land-based casinos. According to the UK’s Gambling Commission, remote gambling brought in £6.9 billion in gross gambling yield (GGY) between April 2023 and March 2024. In contrast, non-remote gambling brought in £4.6 billion for the same period. This clearly shows that remote gambling is the more dominant form in the UK as of recent.

There are several reasons for this, one of the most prominent being accessibility. As we've said before, you would have had to physically go into a casino to get your gambling needs met, but now, you can do this from anywhere. An example of this is UK consumers playing their favorite gambling games with online casinos that are not based in the UK at all. As Alex Hoffmann explains, there is a wealth of non UK licensed casinos for British players, and this means more options than ever. Rather than simply being limited to whatever game is available at your local casino, you can access thousands of titles on different websites with every theme, feature, and bonus you can imagine.

Then, we need to consider the growing visibility of these online platforms. As many of us know, online casinos are deeply intertwined with sports culture. Major online casinos like betting.com and the like have sponsored major sports tournaments in recent times, and this gives even more visibility and credibility. After all, when your favorite football team is sponsored by a particular online casino, you're more likely to visit it. This is especially true given the fact that sports betting is one of the biggest forms of gambling, and major sports stars have endorsed a plethora of online casinos.

Generally speaking, online casinos have had a similar trajectory to online dating sites. In the early 2000s to even the start of the 2010s, it might have seemed a bit novel to use a site for this reason. But now, with so much revenue entering the space, mainstream establishments aligning themselves with online casinos, and fans of sports generally being targeted, it is safe to say that they are fully mainstream. Some might argue that they have become overexposed, but the numbers from the UK gambling commission show that in-person casinos still continue to bring in funds. This could be for several reasons, including customers having an attachment to a physical location, aggressive marketing efforts, or some people simply preferring to gamble in person.

Either way, we are moving towards the future where, while the majority of people will probably place their bets online, in-person establishments will continue to exist.

Gambling can be addictive, please play responsibly.