The pandemic affected gambling, as it did many other sectors, and most land-based casinos were forced to remain closed for a long period of time. The impact of this on both the local and national economies was quite striking: for example, the Nevada Gaming Control Board announced that casinos in the state lost approximately $6.2 billion during the period they were closed (78 days). The impact on Nevada as a state was a loss of nearly $34 billion in tourism revenue.
However, the pandemic period has now come to an end, and economic recovery has begun. But the long period during which we had to change our gambling habits means that things will not immediately return to the way they were before. Even though recovery has begun, new gambling trends have emerged, and iGaming operators such as fortunica casino are taking advantage of them. Let’s take a closer look at the new gambling trends triggered by COVID-19 and continuing even during the economic recovery process.
Digital Gaming Is the New Trend
Frankly, this is not surprising: even before the pandemic, online casinos and sportsbooks were already quite popular. However, in countries where online gambling is not fully legalised (but land-based gambling is legal), they were still not as widespread as traditional casinos. Taking Nevada as an example again, a large portion of US players preferred to travel to Las Vegas to try their luck rather than sign up for online sites.
The pandemic changed this on a global scale and led to online gambling growing at a pace far exceeding expectations. Thus, the first and likely permanent trend is that iGaming has become far more popular than land-based gambling in nearly every part of the world. The numbers confirm this:
- According to the American Gaming Association (AGA) 2024 report, the iGaming sector reached a size of $8.4 billion (a 28% increase compared to the previous year).
- One of the factors contributing to this growth was the legalisation of online casinos and sportsbooks in new US states, such as Rhode Island.
- Revenue from iGaming reached a record $2.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The report also shows that iGaming and land-based gaming reached a total revenue of $71.9 billion in 2024, and when tribal casinos are added, this figure can reach up to $115 billion. These figures show us two things:
- Players are as active as they were before the pandemic, if not more so. We can say that the effects of COVID-19 have completely disappeared and that the recovery process for this sector began in 2023, as multiple records were broken in 2024.
- Even in the US alone, players are using online services more frequently to play casino games and place sports bets. The recovery pattern of iGaming is much more positive than that of land-based businesses, with a minimum growth rate of 28%.
There is another sector where growth figures are at least as good, if not better: sports betting.
Sports Betting Keeps Growing in Every State
We can safely say that one of the trends caused by economic recovery is growth in the sports betting sector. Players are now placing more bets than before the pandemic and are choosing online services to do so. We can see this by looking at official statistics published by the Queensland Treasury:
| STATE | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 |
| New South Wales | 9.574 M | 10.891 M | 11.395 M | 12.922 M |
| Victoria | 4.606 M | 3.438 M | 6.298 M | 7.408 M |
| Queensland | 3.860 M | 5.341 M | 5.378 M | 6.146 M |
| South Australia | 1.039 M | 1.443 M | 1.520 M | 1.792 M |
| Western Australia | 1.377 M | 1.757 M | 1.817 M | 1.951 M |
| Tasmania | 256 M | 397 M | 393 M | 409 M |
| Northern Territory | 249 M | 403 M | 343 M | 404 M |
| Australian Capital Territory | 278 M | 364 M | 395 M | 432 M |
This is not unique to Australia; similar growth figures can be seen in almost every other country. For example, a report published by ESPN shows that the sports betting industry generated $13.71 billion in revenue in the US in 2024. The American Gaming Association (AGA) 2024 report, on the other hand, found that American bettors placed 22% more bets in 2024 compared to the previous year. The same report shows that iGaming accounted for 30% of total gambling revenue in 2024: an increase of approximately 5% compared to the previous year.
Considering that most governments view legal sports betting more favorably than legal casinos, it is not difficult to predict that this sector will continue to grow and serve as the primary source for emerging trends. Sports betting is the gambling category that has benefited the most from the economic recovery worldwide.
Economic Implications and Market Sustainability
Of course, the key question here is whether these trends are temporary. Will players continue with the habits they developed during the pandemic, or will they return to land-based establishments? No one can predict the future, but we can make a reasonable estimate based on current data. For example, a report published by EVE (Grand View Research) expects the online gambling market to reach $153 billion by 2030, which translates to a CAGR of nearly 12%. The same report predicts that the online sports betting market will account for more than half of this growth.
Even without this report, similar predictions could be made. A significant portion of players were born or raised in the digital transformation era, so using a PC or smartphone to try their luck on a website feels more natural to them. Visiting land-based establishments is a habit specific to “old-school” players and is increasingly seen as a “tourist activity.” Therefore, we can say that the growth in iGaming is not a temporary trend but has become permanent and will continue as long as there is no global recession. An increasing number of countries or states are legalising online gambling, thereby supporting this growth. Land-based gaming will never completely disappear, but in the not-too-distant future, it will only cater to a very niche customer base. The future lies in online services, and this is more than just a trend.
