Are We Seeing The Re-Emergence Of The Online Casinos?

10.31.2007 | 10:20 pm | Poker, News, casinos, gambling

Over the last 12 months we have seen one of the most dramatic of collapses in the online gambling industry, with the US effectively pulling the plug on any online gambling activity in the country.  However, over the last few weeks we have started to see some reassuring comments from the online casino companies, with income stabilising, and in many cases actually moving up, and demand starting to pick up again.  Is this the start of a recovery, or just a blip?

While the US has always been a major part of the online gambling industry, due in the main to the gambling culture already prevalent in the country, the effective banning of online gambling did hit the industry hard.  Investors jumped ship, the banks turned up the heat and for a while player numbers were only a fraction of the past numbers.  However, it seems that the sector may be experiencing a resurgence with Europe showing particularly good growth, where the likes of Poker continue to grow in popularity.  We have also seen a number of high profile competitions visit the likes of London, which has again stirred interest in this sleeping giant of an industry.

Even though there is still a long way to go before players numbers will remotely touch the numbers before the US ban, there is an appetite for shares in the sector again.  Investors are starting to wonder if many of the big players have been over sold, and there is always the chance the US decision will be reversed in due course (although recent signs indicate this is some way off, despite earlier expectations).

It seems as though the sleeping giants are waking from their slumber, but will they be punch drunk from recent events in the sector, or will they emerge fitter, leaner and stronger than ever? Time will tell…….