CURRENT TRENDS IN GAMBLING ENTERTAINMENT

Grant, (2011) suggest that 2011 has come with new and interesting trends in the casino gaming Industry in the financial front, the trend seen is that many investment banks have developed a renewed and greater interest in casino and online gaming. This is predicted to cause a number of deals such as acquisitions and mergers at variety of levels in the months to come. The interest has been facilitated by the increase of the commercial gaming as well as the shift in policies and the establishment of rules to ensure that online gaming is secure. Some of the regulators are serving not only as partners but also as protectors of the gaming revenue.

The prospect of the increase in and the global acceptance of online and casino gaming in the US has seen the increased interests by the global suppliers and operators, some of who have started pursuing the US partners. Others have started identifying the different opportunities that are available for them in order to become some of the first participants in the US online gaming industry (Grant F: 2011).

During the recession, casino hotels experienced slowed demand and revenue as consumers reduced spending on traveling and gambling. While this trend is expected to reverse as the economy recovers, players will face increased competition from international casinos, online gaming and other gaming venues. Still, a wider acceptance of gambling will fuel the industry's recovery into the next five years. Over 50.0% of casino hotels in the United States are located in Nevada, primarily in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is the unofficial home of gaming and earned revenue of $6.2 billion in total casino revenue in 2012. Nevada legalized casino gaming in 1931 and until the 1970s was the only location in the United States where people could legally gamble (IBISWORLD: 2014).

Online gambling is still considered a growth industry, as it only began to boom and see real growth in the late 1990s, but it has experienced growing pains in recent years, largely because of anti-gambling legislation in countries such as the US. While the US remains one of the largest markets for online gambling, it has become a risky one in recent years, with the US government passing laws in recent years to enable them to prosecute executives and firms involved in online gaming, including financial institutions that knowingly do business with online operators.

 

REFERENCES

Grant,Jeff. (2011)Current Trends in the Casino Gaming Industry [Online].Available at: http://www.onlinecasinoselite.com/blog/current-trends-in-the-casino-gaming-industry (Accessed: April 14, 2014)

EconomyWatch,(2012)Gambling industry[Online].Available at: http://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/casino/online-gambling-industry.html (Accessed :7 April 2005)