Australia Online Sports Betting overtaking Casino, Poker

The Australia online sports betting market is surging ahead at break-neck pace. Analysts believe it’s got a lot to do with a boom in social media, and correlative mobile marketing tactics among sportsbooks. Pending legislation could have a lot to do with it, as well.

Oddly enough, online gambling has experienced a decline in Australia in the last year. The oddity here is that Australians are known to be the most gambling-centric nationality in the world. Statistics show that at least 80% of Aussies gamble at least once a year, but the online and mobile arena isn’t attracting as many traditional gamblers as it once did.

Australia online sports betting, on the other hand, is spiking. Aussies seem to be turning away from the pokies, now focusing their risk-taking behavior on athletic events, like cricket, footies, golf, and tennis. Horse racing is another big one, and special event gambling on things like entertainment and politics are also gaining in popularity.

According to a new 77-page research report comprised by Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd entitled Australia – Digital Media – Apps and Services:

“There is a decline in the number of Australians who are gambling – but an explosion in sports betting, especially via online.”

The growth rate has been attributed to numerous factors, including the report’s assessment that “Online gaming and gambling can take players from outside the boundaries of their home countries where these online activities may or may not be sanctioned by the authorities.”

In Australia, comprehensive sanctioning of online gambling is just around the corner, and probably has a lot to do with the overall decline in internet casino and poker activity among Aussies.

The government is poised to sign off on amendments to the 16-year-old Interactive Gambling Act (IGA) that will officially prohibit unlicensed online gambling operators from accessing the Australian market, with exorbitant penalties for violators.

The amendments reinforce the original IGA’s declaration that in Australia, online sports betting is the only permissible wagering activity. The new version will explicitly prohibit online casino and poker games, while threatening fines up to $6.75 million per day for any unlicenced, offshore company that flouts the law.

Aussie gamblers aren’t the target of the government’s pending legislation. However, it’s obviously created enough of a stir that players are turning to Australia online sports betting sites that they know won’t be effected, if and when the legislation makes its way into the official law books.

Already, many offshore operators have chosen to exit the market. Not just because they could become the target of a multi-million-dollar fine in the near future, but because some international regulators won’t look kindly on any licencee that operates in a ‘black market’. And that’s exactly what Australia is poised to become for online casino and poker operators.

The report also indicated the rapid growth of social media marketing for the rise in Australia online sports betting.

“Social media developments are fascinating and exciting,” reads the report. “They show the great potential of the new communication and information tools that are becoming available thanks to the internet, Web 2.0, email, broadband infrastructure and mobile phones and tablets.”

More sportsbook are taking advantage of social media advertising campaigns, and apparently, it’s working.