2011: An industry awaits PART 3 - mobile
In a four-part special eGaming Review examines what 2011 has in store for online gambling. Part three looks at why, after years of promise and few results, mobile will finally make its mark on the industry.
The last five years have been branded as “the year of the mobile”, however technology, consumer appetite and delivery has so far failed to live up to the hype. Until now. Many of you believe that it could at long last make its impression on the online gaming market in 2011.
Towards the tail end of 2010 mobile, via the iPhone, iPad and Android platforms, generated significant revenues for several, mainly sports, operators including Unibet, Paddy Power and Sportingbet.
Andy McIver, CEO of Sportingbet, said in November that mobile represented up to 10% of active customers in the markets in which it had launched in the last six months and that it is planning to roll it out into others in 2011. Mark Blandford, Anton Bell of Gaming Edge Associates and formerly of Betfair, Tim Morgan and Nick Batram all told eGaming Review that mobile would be one of the biggest opportunities for the industry in 2011 with increased penetration in poker, casino and especially sports where in-play and mobile should begin to generate significant numbers.
Blandford even went as far as to say that mobile could account for 20% of revenues by the end of the year for “those who embrace it”.
“Mobile may have taken some time to get going but 2011 will see huge growth in mobile gaming now that the technology has arrived. I think it will lead to incremental online gaming expenditure,” adds Batram.
John Faley, chief executive of PanIndex, a new online financial trading business has been tracking mobile in the sector from day one. He says: “I remember six years ago looking at mobile for Paradise Poker and saying it is better to get in early and build up a database for when it takes off and the technology can support a positive user experience. Well the time has come!
“Technology from Apple and others has changed consumer behaviour. Everything is in real time and players demand instant gratification. I would compare mobile to in-running and the gradual change in player behaviour from pre-match betting to in-running. Mobile is here to stay and the technology is going to keep getting better.”
Jason Trost, chief executive of Smarkets, a social betting exchange start-up, believes 2011 will be a great year for small businesses in the sports betting industry with mobile playing a key role.
“Sports betting will continue to become more accessible, with more customers moving online or to mobile devices. In-play will continue to expand into new verticals.”
Richard Moffatt, operations manager at OLBG, says mobile and in-play go hand in hand. “The development that will make the industry the most money in 2011 will be in-play betting. Several operators are in a position to really make the most out of it. By the end of 2011 we will be hearing figures of 80% to 90% of some sportsbooks’ turnover coming from in-play.”
Ted Robinson, COO of Buzz Sports, another new sports betting company that offers customers live betting via its ZonePlay technology, says mobile could enable start-ups such as his own to one day become “household names” across various channels as the technology allows, regulation permitting, for global play.
“We have developed a universal product and we are seeing interest from within the UK to Australia and Peru.”