U.S. Could Greatly Increase Share of Gaming Market in Next Five Years

• Published: May 4, 2013
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A recent study conducted by H2 Gambling Capital, a gambling industry analyst, revealed some interesting things about the future of online gambling and its growth prospects for the very near future. One of the things it confirmed is that the advent of regulation in the United Kingdom, not to mention the offshoot of regulatory bodies lying outside the UK in tax havens such as Gibraltar, the Isle of Man and Malta contributed to a massive spike in revenue over the last five years. In fact, that which came from the UK increased by a whopping 80% during that period of time. All told, of the entire world gambling market, the UK accounts for a little over 14% of it.

The United States actually has a smaller piece of the picture. That's because of the regulatory hurdles that have been placed in front of operators and players because of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The U.S. is about 11% of the pie, but that figure could change soon, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that a number of states have either committed to legalizing and regulating online gambling or are currently considering such a thing. It is being estimated that by the year 2017, the United States could account for about 30% of the regulated gambling market that resides online.

Several European countries have no intention of being left out in the cold. One of them is Romania, which has recently passed legislation to establish the National Gambling office, which would issue licenses for operators who intend to do business with its citizens. There were laws in place that were intended to do just this for about the last three years, but a structure by which to enforce those laws did not really exist until the March 27 vote to institute the NGO.

There are going to be a lot of battles waged in Europe. While there is indeed a European Union, there is also a certain spirit of sovereignty among the member nations when it comes to the subject of online gambling. Some like it; some don't. But like it is in the United States, some entities see the revenue pouring in elsewhere and want to become part of the action. The atmosphere, therefore, is ever changing.