Gambling revenues in Europe will drop by 23% in 2020 even though online gambling continues to increase in popularity.
Online gambling will have a larger share of revenues from the European gambling market this year, but will not compensate for serious falls in the retail network as total market revenues have fallen due to the coronavirus crisis. Data published by the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) in cooperation with H2 Gambling Capital predict that total gambling revenues in Europe will fall by 23% this year – from EUR 98.6 billion gross from games (GGR) in 2019 to EUR 75.9 billion in 2020.
Data from the EU and UK markets have projected that will end with a 7% increase at almost 2 billion from EUR 24.5 billion GGR in 2019 to EUR 26.3 billion in 2020. The result of this one is satisfactory as online gaming revenues declined significantly in the second quarter of this year. This was, of course, due to the fact that from the beginning of March to almost mid-May, all sports competitions around the world were suspended or canceled. However, as already mentioned, a good online performance will not compensate for the serious declines in Europe in terrestrial networks. Here, there was a decrease by 33% – from EUR 74.1 billion GGR in 2019 to EUR 49.6 billion in 2020.
Mobile betting continues to grow in popularity on the Internet. Looking ahead, the steady growth of the European online gambling market is expected to continue, with online GGR expected to grow by around 7% per year and reach 33.6% of total gambling revenue in Europe by 2025. Another notable trend that is expected to continue is the growing popularity of the use of mobile devices for online betting. Mobile betting is expected to account for 45.6% of online gambling revenue in Europe in 2020 and reach 50.8% by 2022, surpassing desktop use for the first time. This trend is expected to continue with mobile betting expected to reach a 58.2% share in 2025.
The EGBA officially released a statement on all the data released, saying how they commend the support to increase awareness for safe online gambling, from all the reputable platforms across Europe. The successful growth line projected for online gambling has a direct correlation to COVID-19 and the increasing number of more people being at home due to the pandemic. Therefore, ensuring player safety and sustainability in a time where many are exposed to gambling more often, is an imperative focus now more than ever.
