An increased uptake in digital products and more favorable online gambling regulation will help spur an uptick in digital wagers in 2018, the latest Juniper Research data show.
Juniper’s Mobile & Online Gambling: Casinos, Lotteries, Betting & VR 2018-2022 claims that total online wagers will jump by as much as 11.4 percent to $700 billion this year compared to just over $620 billion in 2017.
By 2022, Juniper forecasts that global online gambling wagers will reach a total of $1 trillion while the number of online gambling users will double to 684 million.
“We believe new channels, such as chatbots, have the potential to drive customer engagement, through delivery of personalized offers, alongside 24/7 player support,” analyst Lauren Foye said, according to the news outlet.
In making its conclusions, Juniper accounted for the raft of global legislative changes such as the recent poker ban in Australia and significant disruption from social offerings.
Juniper paints a rosy picture for online gambling as they believe that new opportunities will emerge across the globe. It cited the North American market as ripe for future growth after seeing a number of U.S. states taking initiatives to legalize online gambling.
In October 2017, Pennsylvania authorized online casino and poker sites, daily fantasy sports, online lottery sales, mobile gambling at airports after legislators approved a sweeping expansion of gambling.
Pennsylvania joins Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey as the only U.S. states that currently permit some form of non-lottery online gambling.
Meanwhile, Juniper hailed LetsBet as one of the innovative start-ups that will shake up the current status quo in the online gambling market. It also expressed confidence that “providers in the online gambling industry, particularly in the casino space, will increasingly offer engaging products to drive user adoption and player spend.”