In 2023, online gaming is more popular than ever and after COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns saw major losses in jobs and revenue, business at land-based casinos is also booming. According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), last year a record-breaking amount of money was gambled away in the U.S., with the nation’s commercial casinos and legal mobile gaming apps amassing $54.93 billion in revenue through November 2022.

The U.S. isn’t the only country where gambling has made a significant comeback. According to the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), Europe’s gambling market revenue improved by 23 percent last year; an increase that was attributed to the reopening of casinos and betting shops after the pandemic.

European Gambling Landscape

European countries such as the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France, and Spain enjoy lucrative gambling markets. According to recent research, in 2020, the total revenue of the European gaming market reached 81.1 billion euros and is forecast to swell to $126.3 billion by 2026. Aiding those figures, casino surpassed all other types of betting in 2022, with the online gambling product Europe’s most popular by revenue, reaching €14,9bn gross gaming revenue (GGR) and accounting for 39 percent of the continent’s online gambling revenue.

In 2021, the U.S. was positioned at the top of  H2 Gambling Capital‘s Top 30 Nations list for All Gambling (by location), with Gross Win of $127.69 billion and accounted for 35.9 percent of Global Total. The U.S. also led the Landbased Only category with $116.95 billion Gross Win and a hefty 42.2 percent of Global Total. In both of these rankings, China and Japan came in second and third, respectively. In the Interactive Only (player location) category, the was a bit of a shift, with Japan sliding into the number one spot, while the UK was second and the U.S. third, with $13.38 billion, $10.76 billion and $10.75 billion Gross Win, respectively.

New Zealand

Meanwhile, markets such as New Zealand and its kiwi sports and racing fans are contributing in a major way to growing their presence in the game. H2 Gambling has the country ranked sixth (of 30) in its Major Nations Average Net Gambling Spend Per Adult 2021 at $470, just below the U.S.’s $480. Gambling Kiwis can access a good site to find a top casino in NZ.

In the past year, a record 250,000 customers in the Oceana country placed a bet via TAB New Zealand’s (TAB NZ) digital channels, according to the statutory body. In the past year the number of active customers through the TAB Mobile app and tab.co.nz has increased by 11 percent from the same period in 2021 through to the last day of January 2022, when 225,000 customers wagered.

Commenting on the quarter million milestone, Chief Marketing and Customer Officer for TAB NZ, Jodi Williams, said they’ve “made great strides in the last year to offer a world-class betting experience, and it’s great that Kiwis want to get involved.”

TAB NZ Sports & Racing

“On the back of customer improvements like boosted odds in sports and racing, and removing deductions from racing, our customers have embraced some of the amazing events we’ve had over the past year.

“The Women’s Rugby World Cup saw rugby fans get involved in betting on women’s rugby in record numbers, the Melbourne Cup produced another record-breaking year, and the FIFA World Cup was a huge way to round out 2022,” said Williams.

According to the government agency that is a statutory monopoly for New Zealand sports betting, including betting on greyhound racing and horse racing, since August 2022, TAB NZ has enjoyed an average of 78,000 customers betting each week, an increase of 8,000 from the same period the year prior.

Williams credited Kiwi punters with being “loyal punters,” and said they want their “racing codes, national sporting organisatons and communities to thrive.”

According to H2 Gambling Capital’s New Zealand Gross Gambling Capital Turnover‘s Total TAB NZ Betting Casino category rose from NZ$m3873.2 in 2020 to NZ$m 4295.9 in 2021, while the in the Interactive Gambling Summary Gross Win category, TAB NZ , in 2021 rose to NZ$m235.0 from NZ$m163.3 for the same period the previous year.

NZ Online Gambling

In spite of the fact that there is no legislation for online casinos in New Zealand, the country’s online casino market is thriving, with the local gambling market being served by a wide array of international gambling firms. Moreover, according to NZ’s legal code, while no locally-based online casino is permitted to offer any type of virtual online casino gaming in the country, casinos that are internationally based are technically legal.

What this means for local gamblers is that they are free to play at internationally-licensed online casinos as those virtual casinos are not prohibited from operating in the country and there are none that are regulated by the New Zealand Gambling Commission.