What will happen to the gambling industry? Forecast to 2030

Publication date: 29 Sep 2023

Why are gambling industry forecasts useful? These are not horoscopes and predictions, but data from experts and market analysts. They can help to navigate the gambling market in time, catch trends, current GEOs and promote online casinos and bookmakers in the most effective way.

Online gambling and betting in 2024: immediate forecasts

The online gambling industry (online casinos and sports betting sites) has grown rapidly over the past few years. Currently, according to SportsLens.com, more than 175 million people worldwide regularly spend money on gambling, helping the market to grow and generate more revenue. The online gambling industry is expected to reach $100 billion in 2024.

By 2024, more than 195 million people around the world will play games of chance online. Of those, sports betting apps or sites will be used by 143.8 million people (+16 million people compared to projected 2023 totals). They are followed by online casinos and online lotteries with 103.6 million and 34.7 million users respectively. By 2027, the entire market will reach over 233 million users.

• Let’s go back to the beginning of 2023?  Recall the 3SNET forecast “What exactly is likely to influence high affiliate revenue generation in 2023”.

The fastest growing segment is sports betting!

According to a Statista survey, people around the world spent $80.8 billion on online casinos, lotteries and betting apps in 2022.  This figure is anticipated to grow by 17% to $95 billion in 2023. Although the growth rate in 2024 will be slower than in previous years, revenue is still expected to increase by 12% to $107.3 billion. Most of this amount (around 46%) will be generated by online sports betting, the largest and fastest growing segment of the market. Online sports betting is likely to be the one that will contribute nearly $50 billion in revenue in 2024 (up 15% from 2023). They are followed by online casinos and online lotteries with revenues of $38.9 billion and $18.3 billion respectively.

The biggest impact on the industry’s growth will come from the introduction of new gambling technologies (AR and VR), as well as attractive bonuses and promotions.

GEO 2024: US, UK and Australia

The greatest increase will be seen in the United States, which is still the world’s largest online gambling market. According to Statista, Americans will spend approximately $23 billion on online gambling in 2024, or 21% more than this year.

In the UK and Australia, the growth rate will be much slower. Online gambling revenue in the UK is predicted to grow 7% year-on-year to $14 billion in 2024. Australia follows with revenues of around $10 billion and 11% year-on-year growth.

Gaming market in 2026: what’s driving the industry’s growth?

By the end of 2023, the global gaming market will have generated nearly $188 billion in revenue. This is 2.6% more than last year. Such data is published in the Newzoo report. As predicted, the gaming industry will continue to stabilize so the annual revenue of the market in 2026 will be 212.4 billion dollars.

In the near future, experts anticipate that the younger generation is expected to become more involved in gambling. As current players age, new gamers are entering the field, contributing to the overall growth of the industry.

• Interestingly, the rise in popularity of computer games has been significantly influenced by the appearance of the 2023 film ‘The Super Mario Bros’ and the TV series ‘Last of Us’.

Game industry growth is associated with the release of the long-awaited games like Final Fantasy XVI, Hogwarts Legacy and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Their releases were originally scheduled for 2020-2022, but were postponed due to the pandemic.

Key trends in the gaming market development till 2026

1. The mobile games segment will decelerate (compared to previous years), growing by 0.8% to reach $92.6 billion by the end of 2023. The growth delay is related to the monetization and user engagement challenges faced by mobile game developers from Apple and Google.
2. The number of players worldwide is expected to reach 3.38 billion in 2023, and mobile gaming will contribute substantially to this rise. The number of those spending money on games is projected to grow by 7,3% to 1.47 billion.
3. Asia Pacific accounts for more than half of the players, fuelled by the major markets of India and China, as well as Japan and South Korea. North America and Europe represent 20% of players. Nonetheless, the Asia Pacific region’s growth rate is lagging behind the rest of the world.
4.  North America and Europe are predicted to account for 46% of the global gaming market revenue in 2023. Meanwhile, North American revenues are expected to rise by 3.8% to $51.6 billion while European revenues are anticipated to grow by 3.2% to $34.4 billion.

Esports in 2028: audience and engagement are on the rise

Esports is constantly growing and evolving, its audience is expanding and viewer engagement is getting stronger. Gambling Insider reports that in 2022, the global esports betting market was valued at around $11.2 billion. It is projected to reach approximately $24.19 billion by 2028 at a steady compound annual growth rate of 13.7% throughout this period.

Slots in 2030: top GEOs and major providers

In 2022, the global slot machines market was valued at $62.1 billion. Experts predict it to reach $107 billion by 2030, growing at an average annual rate of 7%. ReportLinker stated that the online slots segment will achieve a CAGR of 6.8% and reach $67.6 billion by the end of 2030.

• By the way, we can compare it with the outlook for gambling and betting until 2030, which the experts voiced a year ago.

Top GEO for slots: where will the market grow by 2030

1. The US market is leading the way now, with an estimated $16.9 billion by the end of 2022. Forecasts for the market for 2030 are in paid access.
2. China is in the second position and by 2030 will reach a market volume of $24 billion (averaging +11% annually).
3. Next among the big market players is GEO Canada: there the market will grow at a rate of 5.6% per year.
4. In Japan, the slot machine market is forecast to grow by 4.2% annually.
5. Among European countries, Germany will demonstrate the highest growth: around 5.1% year-on-year.

Major online gaming providers

There are a total of 36 companies on the researchers’ list that are prominent in the production of quality online slot machines. The top 10 included:

• Ainsworth Game Technology (High-Denom, Amazon Gold, Wild Nights, Winning Wolf, King Chameleon, Storming 7’s);
• Aristocrat Leisure (50 Lions, Queen of the Nile, Buffalo, Pompeii);
• ASTRO Gaming;
• Everi Holdings (Cash Machine, Atomic Meltdown, High Voltage Blackout);
• Galaxy Entertainment Group;
• Gaming Partners International;
• IGT;
• Konami Gaming;
• NOVOMATIC Group;
• Scientific Games.