Around the world, online gambling has become one of the most popular internet activities, in many cases replacing land-based casino games. In Australia, the same trend seems to have occurred, as a Roy Morgan Research report shows that online gambling is on the rise while land-based casino games are on the decline. In 2010, online gambling spending research reached $928 million.
One year later, spending jumped significantly to $1.1 billion. These statistics refer to spending at government regulated sportsbetting websites like TabCorp. The report does not take other, unregulated online gambling sites into consideration. However, Australians do play on sites like Poker Stars, so they are likely spending billions more on online gambling than this report lets on.
On the other hand, land-based gambling in Australia has seen a huge decline. From 2010 to 2011, Australians spent $1.6 billion less on traditional gambling activities with a $1 billion decline in pokies spending. This is likely due to the fact that many players have taken their gambling online. Since the online gambling world offers much more convenience to players, it is likely that it has replaced land-based gambling.
The debate over poker machine reform is also likely to have had an effect on the land-based gambling market in Australia. Poker machines and other forms of land-based casino games seem to have been cast in a bad light recently, and it appears as though the debate over pokie reform has discouraged many players from taking part in these games.
Victoria’s new strict gambling rules have also resulted in a drop in pokies spending. Since passing the ATM ban for pokies venues, gambling spending has dropped by $62 million. The state has recently banned the use of headphones while playing poker machines, so it is expected that pokies spending will decline even more.
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