Abstract
We selected the gambling industry as a group because we thought it would be interesting, challenging and because the industry has recently felt a new impulse with the internet. The gambling industry is not one of the most recent industries though, and to understand it fully we decided to analyse the gambling industry on a global scope. The casinos & gaming sector consists of all forms of online and traditional betting on sports, lotteries and slot machines, as well as gambling in casinos or bingo halls. The online segments of the sector include revenues generated from betting on all formats via the Internet. Market values represent net winnings for all operators. Depending on the type of game and its location, net winnings are typically 15-20% of total bets wagered. The global casinos and gaming sector operates differently from country to country, according to regulatory barriers, which often reflect the cultural acceptance of gambling in a particular country. For instance, in the US, sports betting, casinos and machines are the dominant gambling format, while in Japan pachinko machines are clearly the dominant form of gaming. In Europe, lotteries remain the dominant revenue source for the industry, although online gaming has steadily become an increasingly popular segment. Whilst gambling machines continue to provide the highest revenues for the US casino market, non-gaming operations such as restaurants, hotels and retail stores are an increasingly vital source of industry profits. The further loosening of online gambling regulations would trigger massive expansion within the industry, with Internet gambling already predicted to generate $1 billion in the US. Many of the leading US players are already developing online alternatives in anticipation of such a change. Regulatory issues remain one of the key factors limiting growth in the global casinos and gaming sector despite the fact that in recent years legislation has been relaxed in many countries. For example, in the US many states are moving to legalize or expand existing gaming activities, as the industry has proven to be a highly lucrative source of tax revenue for states where it is already legal. Meanwhile, in the UK, there will be a major shake-up of gambling legislation with the Gambling Act which will be put into action on the 1st of September 2007, which promises to propel a major boom in the domestic market. The Gambling Act will allow the creation of super casinos, in the style of facilities in Las Vegas.
