Are online casinos overtaking sports betting in Oceania?

When the European settlers arrived in Australia, they bought their cards and dice games with them. In addition, amongst the settlers, there has always been a keen interest in horses and horse racing. You only have to look at the story of Ned Kelly, the infamous bushranger, outlaw, and gang leader, to understand that horses were intrinsic to early settler life. Betting on which one would win a race was second nature. When the authorities tried to ban gambling, it simply went underground. 

Australia is the largest of the collection of islands off the southeastern coast of Asia. Known as Oceania, these islands extend out into the Pacific Ocean. New Zealand and Papua New Guinea have the next most significant land mass. Oceania comprises fourteen countries, including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Micronesia, Vanuatu, Kiribati, The Marshall Islands, Palau, Tuvalu, and Nauru. In addition, there are French, New Zealand, and American dependencies and territories such as French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Guam, and The Cook Islands. 

While gambling laws vary from country to country, there is no denying that the pastime is popular in this remote corner of the globe. The full-blown casino and gaming industry officially arrived relatively late here. That is not to say people did not gamble; it was just that the industries were unregulated and operated below the radar. People can play at brick-and-mortar casinos here and place bets trackside on a wide range of sporting events like football, basketball and tennis. Some places in Oceania only allow pari-mutuel betting. In addition, online betting and casino games are popular leisure pursuits.

In fact, the growth in the gambling sector is being driven by online platforms. According to Statistica, revenue from online casino games and sports betting in Oceania is forecast to be worth US $10.3bn this year. With an annual growth rate of 6.9%, the market will be worth US $13.45bn in the next four years. The lion’s share of the current market is made up of wagering in the sports sector, with almost 90% of revenue generated here. By the close of 2023, sports betting in Oceania is expected to bring in US $9.09 bn.

Market penetration for online gambling in the region is around 13%. This is a relatively low figure compared to many other countries in the world. For example, approximately 60% of the population in a country like Canada say they have participated in gambling activities. Potentially the market in Oceania could have considerable additional growth over future decades, but there are many factors to influence behaviour. The region has relatively low internet access, with only 60% of the population connected. Access across Oceania is highly variable as it leaps to 90% in New Zealand.

Much of the overall online gaming and gambling growth has come from the mobile sector. Smartphones are changing how we access the internet, and cloud-based gaming and gambling are increasingly accessible. Many online gambling platforms have developed apps to make their services more accessible and secure on mobile devices.

Looking at the data, online casinos are not overtaking sports betting in revenue or popularity. However, the whole online gambling market is growing, and online casinos are an essential part of that growth. In addition, while the sports betting market is much larger in terms of user base, online casinos see higher revenue per user. That revenue is predicted to fall for sports betting, and online casino revenue per user is expected to increase. 

While New Zealand and Australia have incredibly high access to banking services, this is not the case across the entire region. Digital services like online gambling require access to digital money for accounts to be opened and wagers placed. Smartphones offer excellent security for users when using 4G and 5G networks, but there are other obstacles to paying for goods and services online. There is a wide range of alternative payment methods out there for people who either choose not to or do not have the facility to link to a bank account. 

The two primary fintech solutions for customers are to use their mobile phone account to pay the bill or for gamblers to charge up a prepaid digital card before going online. There is a wide selection of PaySafe Casinos which offer the latter service. Paying and playing with this payment method has many benefits. There is also the advantage of anonymity as well as not having to have a bank account to use this service. You only need a stable internet connection to load up your account and play. 

To use PaySafe, players need to find an outlet that sells the service and purchase a prepaid code with a value starting from $10. The code can be bought for cash and used online wherever the PaySafe logo is displayed at checkout. This option can be used to purchase online digital services such as games, films, and music streaming. 

Innovations like prepaid voucher codes and pay-by-phone services like Boku are making the internet more accessible to people everywhere. Better connectivity and even more engaging games mean that the success of online casinos is set to be a sure bet in the coming years.