How Online Casinos Affect Traditional Gaming

The casino business is a billion dollar industry that has become increasingly popular online. Once famous features such as slot machines and card tables can now be played on mobile devices, no matter the user’s location. With this new market of online customers, the industry seems eager to break tradition to provide new and exciting offers for players.

Thanks to the use of mobile apps, everyday players can download their favorite games with the ability to save game activity as well as money earned. In addition to the connection, casinos also utilize these opportunities to offer free bonuses and prizes for long-term customers or extra purchases in a leveling-up process known as gamification. While the new medium of internet gaming is still a wide and untamed field of endless marketing, casinos continue to evolve around the promotion of their online games.

To expand the range of players beyond pure fans of gaming, some casinos are also taking to the rise of eSports and other games. With a new wave of millennial players beginning to take part in casinos, it’s imperative for casinos to provide attractions that cater to a new crowd. Though we do not yet fully know how eSports will impact casino industry there is reason to be hopeful. eSports events for games such as League of Legends and NBA2K are drawing larger crowds every year to watch players compete for tens of thousands of dollars in prizes and sponsorships. As the popularity of eSports games such as these rises, betting on the outcomes of the matches is becoming more popular, as are smaller competitions where amateurs can compete for cash prizes. The use of eSports represents a new potential edge for casino operators as they expand their audience.

Although online casinos might make brick-and-mortar locations seem obsolete, the effects have proven otherwise. In Atlantic City, gaming analysts saw a 32 percent growth in Internet revenue with a 7.7 percent overall growth in gaming revenue according to a 2016 report. Rather than cause a decline in casino gaming, the increased online presence seems to coincide with a growth in consumer participation. From this evidence, a look into online games can be a good investment for anyone in the industry.

There are plenty of cases of states needing to turn to to the gaming industry to help raise revenue, and online gaming has proven especially helpful in supporting land-based casinos. Until the time when online gaming grows stale, casino-based or otherwise, it is necessary for industry members to recognize the role it plays for the casino industry.