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Australian iGaming Market Overview: Horse racing keeps primacy in betting

| December 17, 2019
Horse racing maintains top position in gambling in Australia

The iGaming industry is very successful and profitable thanks to the environment this horse racing takes place. It is a multi-billion dollar industry that is trendy in lots of countries, the first one being Australia. This month, Australia released an official annual report for gambling that showed sports betting brought almost 1 billion Australian dollars in this sector, and most of them come from horse racing, 50.9%. 

The betting sector is hugely successful and profitable thanks to the environment these horse racings takes place. It is promoted as a fun activity for outdoors. It is trendy amongst lots of countries because of the excitement this one brings. It is a multi-billion dollar industry, and it’s taking over many countries, the first one being Australia. 

Horse racing leads the way in the betting landscape

With almost one in four Australians betting regularly, there is no doubt that the iGaming industry in Australia is prosperous. Taking horse racing as an example, it became so popular in Australia over the years thanks to the exciting performance that it creates. It is a sport and also a gambling activity since this industry makes almost 14.3 billion Australian dollars from bets, which is nearly 637 dollars per Australian. Check out gstopslots.uk where you can choose the site you want to use to gamble.

According to the statistics, an average person from Australia bets about 8.50 dollars on a race every year. Also, this industry has over 250 thousand employees, meaning that 1 out of 89 Australians work in the horse racing sector. It is not only business anymore, but it is also a community that includes Australia’s Government as well. 

Melbourne Cup 2019

Horse racing is not only the way to bet but also a national show named Melbourne Cup that brings thousands of citizens and overseas visitors every year. This year the Melbourne Cup took place on the 5th of November and was interrupted by activists for animal rights. Even though the race ended with the victory of Vow and Declare at about 5 pm. 

During the last decade, people worldwide get more captious and caring about the treatment of animals in different spheres. Horse racing is not an exception. Activists tried to turn the attention of the Government and visitors with the strike on the Melbourne Cup this year. As long as the performance stays the same trendy among visitors, there is no way to protect horses. Even though it has become a traditional annual event, the amount of visitors is getting smaller. The Guardian states that this year’s attendance was 81.400 people, and they claim that it was the lowest attendance since 1993. It was caused by the changing not only of attitude to the performances with aminals, their poor treatment, but the significant changes in regulations of the gambling industry in Australia.

Horse racing betting
Horse racing betting remains to be in its primary position in the gambling industry.

Nevertheless, horse betting remains to be in its primary position in the gambling industry. Gamblers do not stop accusing horse racing from the side of animal abuse, but it does not prevent them from playing online. Roy Morgan’s report states that horse betting owns charts with an income of 1 billion Australian dollars. It means almost 50.9% of Australians are betting yearly. 

iGaming Market in 2019

Throughout years, the gambling industry had been rising, and statistics show that pretty clear. Whether it comes about slots or horse betting, they have gained some credit for a while now. People were spending over 208 billion dollars in the 2016-2017 years. Regarding different forms of gambling:

  • 23.87 billion dollars on racing (about 1.260 dollars per capita)
  • 174.6 billion dollars on casino and pokies (about 9.220 dollars per capita)
  • 10.1 billion dollars on sports betting (about 533 dollars per capita)

Although horse betting is the most profitable in the betting sector, pokies prevail in the number of participants in the whole iGaming category. It is caused by various factors like easy low stakes, accessibility online, user-oriented content, usage of the latest technologies, and others. Due to the pokieslab, the customer primarily searches for offers with benefits and chooses proven operators with entertaining gameplay. But iGaming operators do not limit themselves in perfect service with bonuses only and use all tools that are available on the market. Therefore, the industry keeps growing within the regulations that countries put on them.

Participation in gambling activities
Participation in gambling activities over time.

Source: NSW Gambling Survey 2019. Participation in gambling activities over time, 2006, 2011, 2019

The chart shows a percentage of participation in gambling activities in the year 2006, 2011 and 2019. The horse races were prevalent in 2011, and by 2019 the rate has fallen to 20, meaning that many are starting to pass races. Customers became picky in all categories, including iGaming, so operators are forced to fight for their attention. The traditional way of gambling takes a step back and gives way to new gaming approaches. As the chart shows, some groups decline while pokies, instant scratches, sports events, and lottery tickets get huge popularity.

Summing Up

Although iGaming stays one of the most profitable industries in the world, Australia is one of the few countries where gambling declines in recent years. It is due to strict regularities that the Australian Government implements due to a negative effect on citizens. Australia is all about the community, and that is why locals highly support these regulations. Nevertheless, the country still runs horse racings and doesn’t forbid official iGaming operators. It is highly believed that all these regulations make the gambling and betting sectors safe and fair for customers. 

Category: Betting

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