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NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ -
London, United Kingdom, 2010/04/16 - ReportBuyer.com, the online destination for business intelligence for major industry sectors, has added a new report.
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The report “The Future of Digital Gambling” examines developments across the rapidly evolving digital gambling sector. It underlines the challenges facing companies operating across this space, considers the potential opportunities available.
The digital gambling market - encompassing online, mobile and digital TV-based services - continues to grow, accounting for an increasing proportion over overall gaming revenues. The current state of the global economy is placing significant pressure on gambling industry revenue potential, prompting many providers to deliver innovative services to boost both awareness and customer loyalty. Furthermore, strict regulation with regards to the provision of online services will continue to restrict market potential.
Competition is fierce across the industry, with operators investing heavily in their platforms to deliver compelling services to their consumers. With operational scale vital, M&A activity will be ongoing, while acquiring (and retaining) customers will continue to be the key strategic focus for most operators. In addition, operators will increasingly seek to exploit wider opportunities across the digital gambling space, including the development of mobile and digital gambling services.
Many online gambling firms are placing particular attention in delivering services which appeal to women in order to exploit opportunities across the huge potential market. Live (or in-play) betting is the key growth driver for the sector, enabling punters to bet on events in real-time as they progress. To develop a more compelling live betting offering, operators are investing heavily in sports broadcast rights.
According to the 156 page report, the introduction of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006 was a hammer blow to the fortunes of the online gambling sector; an estimated $4 billion was wiped from online gambling share prices almost overnight, while major public online gambling firms were forced to abandon their US-facing operations.
The US is under pressure from various angles to ease its anti-gambling stance. However, even if the US market becomes regulated, there are no clear indications with regards to whether overseas operators will be able to offer services.
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