We’ve all seen him; that man sat in the pub desperately flicking through the Football League results on his mobile, one eye on the Arsenal game on TV, and one eye on his phone- desperately hoping Birmingham will get a goal so his accy comes through.
That man used to be the exception, rather than the rule. However, now we’re looking at men, women, groups of friends all sat around the table – needless to say mobile betting and gaming has never been bigger.
The industry has grown immensely in the last few years, and that figure is only set to increase with it set to be worth an estimated $62billion by 2018.
Although it’s big enough business now. The World Cup received huge amounts of revenue with Unibet generating over £112million, of which £51million of that was through live betting. And it’s the ability to live bet that has made the industry so big, and quite simply more accessible.
Nadav Linden, Head of Affiliation at bookmakers William Hill,spoke to freebets.com about how mobile is changing the way we bet on mobile.
He said: “Traditionally it was the case that punters were far more singles oriented on mobile. Time and speed were the utmost considerations for this. Now that the experience has been enriched so significantly, and the range of markets is at the same level as desktop, we’re seeing a convergence of betting behaviour (to mobile)”
In 2013, the UK’s mobile betting industry grew by more than 100%, with bookmakers such as William Hill surpassing that figure with of 198% increase over the last 12 months,
But why is that? Is it the convenience of mobile? Or the markets available?
Well, a little bit of both. You can bet on a hunch almost instantly with mobile, whilst the rate in which the mobile industry is developing, it offers much more, and is likely to in the future too. Push notifications is one such thing that has been rolled out in recent months with the World Cup seeing big results for the likes of Coral who received a record number of downloads during the tournament.
The significant spikes, turnover, and record bets made by mobile is showing that the industry is giving the community what they want, but as mobile technology continues to improve, the want is going to heighten alongside it, and if that is met, then forget the $62billion, that will rocket even further.
