As recent years have shown, the iGaming market only seems to be gaining in speed and popularity. Projected to have a value of $97.69 billion by 2025, the iGaming sector is adapting well to various kinds of regulations implemented in different markets globally.
What’s more, in the past two years only, the possibilities for both sportsbooks and casinos entirely relocating to the iGaming sector seem that much higher. With the increase in revenue, the prospects of this industry look promising for avid gamers and people looking to secure job positions alike. Especially as the market has been significantly expanding to new countries and regions across the globe.
Keep reading to find out which international iGaming markets have been gaining the most traction recently, as well as which look the most promising for the forthcoming future.
Nigeria
Unlike in some other regions of the world, the iGaming industry in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, predominantly focuses on sports betting. The revenue numbers are predicted to increase with statistics reporting millions of Nigerians spending sums of money worth millions of dollars daily on sports betting.
This should be hardly surprising, as Nigeria’s physical sports betting market has always been robust. The convenience of iGaming, coupled with increased smartphone usage, has made it much more alluring for, even casual, bettors. This, in turn, has only attracted more and more sportsbook platforms. Growing above the 2018 US$2 billion value, the Nigerian gaming market is one of the standouts this year and one to look at for future investment.
Brazil
While the entirety of Latin America has been an attractive region for casinos and bookies in the past years, Brazil, in particular, seems the most promising, considering all circumstances.
Interestingly enough, Brazil has a ban on games of luck, permitting only games of skill. This extends mostly to brick-and-mortar Casinos. Luckily, this doesn’t apply to online gaming and betting, allowing for the revenue in the iGaming sector to skyrocket.
Recently, Brazilian authorities have started encouraging the development of the online sports betting market. The government of Brazil has encouraged this trend hoping it will lead to opening more employment opportunities in the growing industry. Especially important during a national and global economic crisis spurred by Covid-19.
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo is yet another fresh iGaming market and one ripe for aggressive expansion. Considering the openness to new sorts of iGaming all around Africa, it’s hardly surprising to see the Republic of the Congo mentioned on this list. Most recently, Veli. Services have enabled the PariDirect iGaming platform to lead the entirety of the Congo market.
The PariDirect iGaming platform is, currently, the only sportsbook currently abiding by the country’s local regulations on betting. Yet, this seems to be more of a perk than anything, as a platform with PariDirect’s reputation and opportunities is more than promising regarding future developments of the iGaming industry in this region.
Gia Janashvili, a key figure of both Veli. Services and PariDirect have high hopes for the Republic of the Congo’s iGaming industry. He believes it’s been mistakenly overlooked due to not being a household gaming name. Many believe that this prominent figure will revolutionize the country in the coming months, increasing the development of this industry in the process.
India
The Indian gaming market has been growing rapidly, even though most online casinos and betting platforms were launched only a year or two ago. Interestingly, some of these are already at billion-dollar valuations as companies.
Considering that almost half of India’s population is below 25, it makes sense that numerous internet users are influencing the rapid development of the iGaming market in this massive country. All sorts of iGaming services have been launched and are thriving: online gaming, eSports, sports betting platforms, and even services for popular card games. Locally popular games like Teen Patti and Andar Bahar have seen huge successes across platforms. Almost all of them are showing increasing success and producing staggering financial gain.
As things stand now, with a market of ₹119 billion and an estimation of ₹153 billion by 2024, the Indian one most definitely stands out among the newcomers.
Conclusion
With all that being said, it’s easy to predict that these particular iGaming markets will keep growing in the coming years and that the expansion of other international ones will keep spreading as widely as possible. Currently, the estimation of the overall iGaming industry for 2023 rounds at US$93 billion, proving once again that these markets’ present and future growth is inevitable.
What’s more, if we consider the influence of cryptocurrencies being incorporated into the regular payment methods, the flexibility allowed by online gaming and betting games will only attract more and more customers, which will, in turn, employ more people.
