Feeding the Tiger: Japan Looking More Attractive than Ever: CasinoBeats Malta Digital
Published July 18, 2020 by Lee R
A disruptive CasinoBeats Malta Digital panel threw major sunshine at a rising power in Asia.
A lively discussion broke out at CasinoBeats Malta Digital summit about the sleeping tiger in Asia whom has yet to burst fully onto the scene.
Panel Loves Japan
Of course we speak of emerging iGaming force Japan. Enervated panelists speaking on
the “Online Casino: Big in Japan?” panel were enthusiastic in agreement that many of global gaming’s most valuable players are waiting in Japan.
KafeRock Representative Speaks
EU and Asia Pacific VP at KaFe Rock Andrea Bellazza posited that the known difficulty in accessing Japanes players was well worth the extra effort:
“I can’t give specific numbers but I will tell you that for sure their lifetime value is higher than American players.”
Value Per Capita
Bellazza clarified that these harder to acquire players among the most valuable in the world. And per capita are ready to spend more than the industry is accustomed to in comparison to the average spend of America or European players.
Ichiban Representative Agrees
Ichiban Ventures CEO Robin Reed chimed in with specific lifetime value per capita estimations of “upwards of €2,000 ($2257) per player,” figures which Reed predicted will only rise in “a relatively new market” where online casino has only penetrated in the past “four to five years.”
Japan’s Landscape
More figures to shape the picture provided by Statista research include revenue in Japan’s online gaming segment projected to reach US$3,037m in 2020, and achieve 27.2 million users, with user penetration in the as yet unregulated jurisdiction holding at 21.5% for 2020 and years subsequent.
Being that Japan is being served only by offshore companies at this point, and the government only regulates limited sports betting and lottery, the Japan market’s infancy status and relatively high liquidity has a massive upside, in terms of the vital “untapped potential” component.
Projected Market
When including the Tokyo and Yokohama markets, the Japanese online casino industry is realistically one of the top gambling markets in the world. The current demographic segment is at this point composed of high spending older players and emerging young users, with the panel agreeing that careful investment in this market can grow quickly.
Outlook
Finding ways to reach Japanese players en masse via licensed offshore channels poses the intriguing investment challenge at this point.
