Over the last few years, there has been a lot of talk surrounding the rise of digital casinos and their possible effects on land-based casinos.


Many projections were made about how the digital casinos will lead to the demise of brick and mortar casinos and many governments passed online gaming laws while banking on an increase in popularity for online-casinos.


The most high profile example of governments forecasting revenues based on online casinos is New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie who predicted that online gaming would bring in $160m in revenue for his state. The actual results were closer to $80m.


So what is the current relationship between digital casinos and land-based casinos? Which one has the upper hand?


The Online Casino Situation


Since the proliferation of the internet, there has been a rise in the number of online casinos on the web today. The online casinos hold a myriad of benefits such as:


  • Lower expenses
  • Possibility of reaching a wide range of clientele
  • Multitasking opportunities for players
  • Convenience
  • Wide range of gaming options

The online casinos also offer a wide range of payment options, further breaking the entry barrier for would-be gamers. It is not uncommon to find casinos that accept PayPal deposit (like Lucky Admiral for example) or those that accept crypto currencies. These benefits combine to highlight online casino gaming as an intriguing proposition but it is not all plain sailing.


Online casino operators do not make as much money as their land-based counterparts. Firstly, legislation is many regions do not allow online casino customers to go beyond specified transaction limits. In some cases, the limits are as a little as a few hundreds. Land-based casinos have transaction limits in millions.


Secondly, the fact that online casinos are less capital-intensive to run hasn’t quite translated to increased revenues for businesses and the governments under which they operate. For the business, a lot of investments must go into digital marketing to bring in a steady stream of customers. They also have to make investments in the security of the platforms and screening of potential clients to ensure adherence to rules. For the government, a reduction in the number of employees means a reduction in the number of people paying income tax.


Land-Based Casinos Still Thriving


There have been many high-profile land based casino closures in recent but the argument that this is as a result of the rise of the online casinos is unproven in most of the cases.


In fact, the rise of online casinos has pushed land-based casinos into providing more robust offerings that will make it more enticing for people to leave the comfort of their homes. Some land-based casinos operate their own online sites and some of them sell licensing agreements to ensure brand exposure.


The online portals help them with valuable customer data that is leveraged on, to provide a more enthralling experience for brick and mortar visitors.


A high concentration of casinos in one area and mismanagement are more valid reasons for the closure of land-based casinos.


So what is the Relationship Today?


There are lots of advantages and disadvantages to being on either side of the divide. Top casino brands, however, have created strategies that have allowed them to operate on both sides.


Online gaming may be regarded as a disruption for the land-based casino community but if anything, it has helped many of them to be more innovative, launching new offerings and even creating and online-to-offline experience.


A good example of this is a strategy we are seeing more now across the US where casinos are using their online platforms to capture their target audience while offering bigger prizes for offline gaming or a stay in a hotel managed by the casino as part of a deal. The digital casino and land-based casino world will co-exist for a long time yet.