Jupiter Research Bullish On Mobile Gambling

Published: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

JUNIPER RESEARCH BULLISH ON MOBILE GAMBLING

Latest survey predicts revenues could reach $23 billion by 2011

The popularity of mobile gambling, involving casinos, lotteries and betting, is set to rise from under $2 billion in terms of bets placed to in excess of $23 billion come 2011, according to industry analysts Juniper Research.

The research shows an increasing trend in the adoption of mobile gambling services thanks primarily to an increase in the popularity of mobile lotteries, which is set to involve 41 percent of total mobile gambling expenditure in the next 5 years.

The forecast by Juniper is in tandem with emerging technologies in mobile gambling arenas, such as the Venetian hotel-casino who recently unveiled plans to introduce on-property mobile gambling styled services like black jack, roulette, poker and slots to their menu of entertainment services following regulation approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission, enabling gambling on mobile devices in any public area of the state's casinos.

Bruce Gibson, the author of the Juniper report states: "Like all sectors of gambling, mobile gambling remains a legislation constrained industry and even greater growth will be possible if restrictions on mobile gambling are lifted in key markets such as the USA."

Mobile casino games usage is further set to benefit most from the increasing roll out of 3G services and increasingly sophisticated handsets. However, Juniper forecasts that mobile casino gambling expenditure will trail lotteries and sports betting slightly as not all casino games played will be "playing for real" and it is the low stake, mass market end of the market that is likely to show the most growth through to 2011.

Juniper further expects mobile lotteries to show the greatest expenditure worldwide over the 2006-2011 period, contributing 41 percent of total mobile gambling expenditure.

"There has been a lot of hype about mobile gambling, but the industry now seems to be taking a more realistic view on how the market will develop. We anticipate that the mobile channel will push gambling services out to a broader/lower stake market than existing channels, offering good opportunities for market growth where legislation permits," says Gibson