Mobile Betting

Mobile betting is the new major development in the gambling industry. Punters can now use their mobiles to for all their betting needs, no longer needing to use the traditional betting shop or betting at an online bookmaker. As a definition, mobile betting refers to any gambling undertaken on a remote wirelessly connected device. Mobile sportsbetting will take a substantial share of all mobile betting.

A report by Juniper predicted that by 2009, mobile betting services will be generating revenues towards $20billion – a third of all mobile entertainment revenues. The report suggests that this figure could be set to increase: "Given the ubiquity of mobile handsets, and the desire of many [gambling] providers to exploit this, then potentially the resulting sales could be substantially higher."

Lotteries are tipped to be the main attraction of early mobile betting: "More than 90% of the population in the UK and US have at some time played a lottery in its traditional paper form. Coupling this huge market with the immediacy and penetration of the mobile phone is a logical and lucrative proposition." The report predicted gross revenues of nearly $7.9billion worldwide by 2009, followed by mobile sportsbetting at $6.9billion.

With mobile betting set to become even more profitable than the typical online gambling, analysts are urging the industry to play their cards right. "The market for these services is potentially vast," the report says. "It is now up to the service providers to seize the opportunity."