Not Invited to the Party
Online casinos have been one of the great success stories of the internet. In little more than a decade the industry has grown enormously to be one of the most lucrative entertainment industries on the planet.
It even managed to survive the recession largely unscathed. Although, like every sector of the world economy, there were some casualties, people choosing to stay in rather than go out and spend their money resulted in bigger turnovers for some of the best online casino brands like 32 Red.
Now, however, there is competition in the market, and some industry experts are predicting a tough time for the online entertainment industry. The summer always results in a little slowdown in activity and the poker craze appears (in some quarters) to be slowing down, but this is not the main root of the problem.
The biggest threat to the online casino industry is the World Cup. Admittedly a short-term threat, but a very real one, coming as it does at the end of the first quarter of the new fiscal year. As many of the punters who might otherwise play online games turn their attention to the self-styled ‘greatest show on earth’ industry experts are predicting online casinos to take a serious revenue hit.
The size of that hit is hard to judge, but many American casinos are particularly expected to feel the heat because of the strength of the dollar against the euro and sterling and, also, because of the relative strength of the USA at this year’s tournament. If the US team can out score England over the next two matches they face a relatively easy draw in the last sixteen that could see them match their feats of 2002.
Of course, all that is conjecture, and the World Cup is a double-edged sword, because, just as it attracts the attention of some people to football, others who dislike the sport are forced to look for other forms of entertainment, particularly as there is little else on the television.
Still, for all the dire warnings about first quarter profits, the World Cup only comes around every four years, and the online casino industry is more than big enough and strong enough to deal with a small downturn.
