The global online gambling market size was valued at USD 63.53 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.7% from 2023 to 2030. The growing internet penetration and rise in the use of mobile phones among users for playing online games is increasing the demand for online gambling. For instance, in 2022, internet penetration in the U.S. was 92% of the country's total population. Furthermore, cultural and legalization approval, easy access to online gambling, celebrity endorsements, and corporate sponsorships are also helping market growth.
SourceBased on type, the global online gambling market is segmented into poker, sports betting, casinos, and others. The sports betting segment is expected to gain a substantial market share in the forecast period due to the growth of the sports betting industry driven by the effective use of computers and cell phones to place wagers on sporting events.
SourceWhen you summarize it, it all goes down to the "easy access" of the gambling sites in the world.
Cell phones/smart phones - If there is no application available for the gambling site, you can always use the browser of phone instead, if it won't work in mobile view then, you can use other browsers that have the feature of "desktop view". It's actually easy nowadays to create a solution for small problems like this.
Desktop/Laptops - According to ACS (American Community Survey) 89 percent of household today have a desktop or a laptop in their place. Internet connection is not a problem anymore because they are offering cheap prices for 10-25 mbps speed. Gambling sites doesn't need a super speed internet just to access it, most of them are text-based websites so loading a page won't be that long.
Marketing - We can now see celebrities endorsing the gambling sites. Even our heroes in the sport can now be paid to put the name of the gambling site in their shirts or jerseys or if they want more money, they can use their tongue and say the name of the site. Sponsorship. Every time we watch a sports event, any sport, you name it, we see their names being flashed on the screen.
According to the articles shared, sports betting will have the highest market gain in the next few years.
What do you think?
It does feel like the market is still expanding and even some US are only just legalizing it more at the moment. It might continue to grow until there is some push back by politicians or any societal effects start to appear. Like you say, the resources involved in setting up and running a casino can be fairly minimal - they can be run from fairly light apps, so as long as the user has a basic phone it will work for them. The biggest issue facing casinos is that more people become aware that it's just a money pit. The average user, for casinos at least, will usually figure out that they are not going to make any sort of good return from playing these games - but they might keep gambling their whole lives in things like sports betting.