Lotteries see a rise in performance, despite increased competition
Lotteries see a rise in performance, despite increased competition
Date of the Article:
Thursday, June 10, 2010
We at GBGC have just completed our global trawl of gambling statistics to produce our 5th edition of the Global Gambling Report. Ironically the one sector that has outperformed the rest is Lotteries. I say this is ironic because most National lotteries have been complaining that Internet gambling has been plundering their revenue.
A global increase of 2.3% may not sound a big deal but compared with the rest of the market it is a creditable performance.
Gambling Sector Performance (GGY % change 2009 vs 2008)
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Gambling Sector/Operator
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GGY % Change (2009 vs 2008)
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Global Lotteries
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2.3
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UK National Lottery
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3.9
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Global Casinos
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(4.9)
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Global Betting
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(5.4)
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Nevada Casinos
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(13.7)
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Total Global Gambling Market
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(2.9)
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It would seem that the global recession has caused gamblers who are anxious about their future to buy that lottery ticket as a chance to win big and solve all their problems. Add this to the fact that lotteries are now engaging with Internet and you can see why they have done so well. According to the UK’s Gambling Commission survey of gambling participation up to March 2010 Internet gambling climbed to 10.7% from 10.5% but the increase was almost entirely due to lottery sales.
Internet gambling however continues to take a larger share of the entire gambling cake. At present Internet gambling represents 7% of all gambling but we expect that to grow to 9.4% by 2012. This would be a creditable performance against a market that is presently flat lining at US$372 billion but one that we expect to grow to US$400bn by 2012.
Global Gambling Market (US$ billion)
In essence we are seeing Internet taking a larger market share of a cake that we expect to see grow by around 8% up to 2012.
It isn’t all plain sailing though. The recovery in the world economy is quite fragile and we expect to see continued volatility in the markets until various governments have their budget deficits under control.
How this will pan out no one knows. The Irish government introduced an austerity budget which although unpopular has been accepted by its people. On the other hand we see rioting and widespread strikes in Greece.
Gambling companies are not immune from what is happening around them and our figures are based on a steady state scenario which we may have to adjust from time to time. However on the plus side we have not taken account of any new Internet gambling legislation in the United States.
Written exclusively for www.continen8.com by Warwick Bartlett, Chief Executive of GBGC (Global Betting & gaming Consultants - www.gbgc.com)