Australia’s most famous and longest-established market research company, Roy Morgan, released some information today regarding online gambling in the country. According to the data provided by the research firm, an increasing number of local citizens use mobile devices to place a bet, despite the fact that fewer people are actually gambling recently.
Roy Morgan market research firm revealed that a total of 3.4 million Australian people placed a bet on a sporting event, horse or greyhound racing, harness racing or other events in the 12 months to March 2018. In comparison, more than 3.7 million local citizens placed a wager in the 12 months to March 2012. An interesting trend among punters is the fact that more people seem to be turning to online gambling. The research firm further revealed that the number of Australians who place bets on the Internet increased by more than 50%, reaching 34.1%.
According to the information unveiled by Roy Morgan, the massive increase has been helped by the increasing popularity of mobile devices, and especially of mobile phones. For the time being, 22.7% or more than one-fifth of Australian people use their mobile phones to place a bet. In comparison, in 2012 only 5.6% of local residents used mobile phones to place bets. The number of people who prefer to bet on the Internet by using their computers, however, literally remained unchanged from the figure reported six years ago, with 15.1% of Australians placing a bet by using their computers.
The research firm explained that the mobile phone betting is responsible for almost the entire increase in online gambling operations in the country.
Image Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia
Australian Gambling Market Sees Consolidation
As far as the presence of gambling operators in Australia is concerned, the local iGaming industry has seen a considerable consolidation over the past few years. According to information provided by Roy Morgan, the online betting market of Australia is being dominated by two operators up to date.
As mentioned above, 34.1% of Australians prefer using the Internet for placing a bet, with their number seeing a significant increase over the past few years.
The data provided by Roy Morgan in terms of the leading companies in the local online gambling industry showed that the Tabcorp Holdings’ online betting website is used by almost 18% of local customers. The company currently runs a number of betting websites offering various betting options to their customers. The second most popular online gambling brand among Australians is Sportsbet.com.au, with the latter’s services being preferred by almost 13% of Australians. Crownbet is ranked third, with 6.5% of local residents betting with the brand which has recently been acquired by the Canadian gaming giant The Stars Group.
Image Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia
According to the Chief Executive Officer of Roy Morgan, Michele Levine, the fact that country’s citizens find online gambling options attractive, is actually a positive feature of the country’s betting industry. Ms. Levine has explained that the market has undergone some major changes over the past few years, with a consolidation of betting operations into a number of key players being reached.
The long-discussed and awaited merger of Tabcorp and Tatts Group at the end of 2017, as well as the acquisition of Sportsbet by the Irish bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair in March 2018, along with the acquisition of Crownbet by The Stars Group being some of the most important changes in the Australian gambling market.
- Author
Olivia Cole
