Online Gambling Growth in Numbers

There have been many surveys over the years of the online gambling industry and community, but it is quite an evasive field to pin down in numbers.

Still these surveys are always interesting, and at time surprising, such as the survey that showed that 50% of gamblers are women.

An analysis of online gambling's global scope is now at hand.

New numbers
US Consulting firm Christiansen Capital Advisors published an estimate that our industry currently accounts for about $22 billion a year in global revenue. The number is expected to reach nearly $25 billion a year by 2010.

Of interest
Surprisingly, or not, half of the above sum will be wagered by Americans, CCA says.

This immediately spells two words: UIGEA and Taxes.

Or in other words - isn't there a ban in place? And wouldn't the US benefit if it would tax a regulated market?

As for the former, online gambling is not considered a vice any more as it might have been in centuries past. Friday night college poker nights are a norm (as are Wednesday nights, or any other day of the week).

Per the latter question, taxes on the industry could generate somewhere in the neighborhood of $8.7 billion to $17.6 billion for the US Treasury over the next 10 years; this number nearly quadruples if sports leagues agree to participate too, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers study.