Mobile betting drives growth in online wagering
Australians are increasingly using mobile phones to place a bet, although overall fewer are taking a punt than in recent years. The overall gambling eco-system whether via betting, casino gaming or buying lotteries and scratchies tickets will be explored in more detail in the coming days.
Overall some 3.4 million Australians placed a bet whether on a sporting event, horse racing, harness racing (trots), greyhound racing or some other event in the 12 months to March 2018. This is down from over 3.7 million Australians in the year to March 2012.
Among bettors a growing proportion are turning to the Internet to place their bets. Now 34.1% of Australians making a bet use the Internet, more than double the comparable figure of 15.7% from six years ago.
The growth is clearly being driven by the increasing use of mobile phones to place bets. Now over a fifth of Australian bettors, (or 22.7%) use their mobile phone compared to only 5.6% in 2012. This is a more than four-fold increase over the past six years.
In contrast, now 15.1% of Australians placing a bet use their computers to make bets, virtually unchanged from the 15.2% who used their computers six years ago.
Australians who bet using the Internet and mobile phones – March 2012 to March 2018
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, April 2011 – March 2012 to April 2017 - March 2018. Base: Australians aged 18+ who had a bet in the last 12 months. Average of 3,137 per 12 month period.
To understand the scope of betting and gambling in Australia means gaining insight into what Australians bet on and who is doing the betting. The Roy Morgan Gambling Currency Reports delve into Australian gambling habits in depth including detailed analysis of betting, poker machines, casino table games, keno, lotteries and scratchies.
Tabcorp Holdings & Sportsbet.com.au dominate online betting in Australia
Australia’s online betting industry has consolidated considerably in recent years and several large players now dominate the industry.
Nearly a fifth of Australians who bet, 17.9%, place bets via a Tabcorp Holdings online betting site. Melbourne-based Tabcorp Holdings includes market leading online betting sites TAB.com.au, UBET, Tatts.com/Tattsbet and the recently closed Luxbet.com.
The Irish-owned Sportsbet.com.au is used by 12.9% of Australians who bet while 6.3% use Crownbet for which a majority stake was recently sold to Canadian gaming company The Stars Group. Crownbet owns several online betting sites including Crownbet, William Hill, Sportingbet, TomWaterhouse and Centrebet.
Online websites and apps used by Australians who bet – 12 months to March 2018
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, April 2017 - March 2018. Base: Australians aged 18+ who had a bet in the last 12 months. n=2,564. *Tabcorp Holdings owns online betting sites including TAB.com.au, UBET, Tatts.com/Tattsbet and Luxbet.com. **Crownbet owns online betting sites including Crownbet, William Hill, Sportingbet, TomWaterhouse and Centrebet. #Ladbrokes Coral owns online betting sites including Ladbrokes, Betstar and Bookmaker.com.au.
Michele Levine, CEO, says Australians the ease of betting via smart phones and apps is a bright spot for the betting industry as it consolidates into a few key players:
“Australia’s betting industry has undergone significant change in recent years. The merger between Tabcorp.com.au and Tatts group late in 2017 has created a gambling behemouth, irreverent Sportsbet.com.au has been bought by Irish bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair and in March this year Canadian gaming company The Stars Group bought 80% of Crownbet which has several well-known online betting sites including William Hill.
“The merger of Tabcorp Holdings and Tatts group means the Melbourne-based company now attracts nearly 600,000 Australians to place a bet through one of its websites – significantly more than the 440,000 that use Sportsbet.com.au.
“Increasingly these bets are being placed through smartphones. Now 22.7% of Australians who bet placed a bet via a smartphone compared to only 5.6% in 2012. In contrast, betting via a computer is virtually unchanged over the same time period at 15.1% of bettors in 2018.
“This growth of 17.1ppts by those betting via mobile phones is responsible for almost the entire increase of those betting via any Internet connected device. Now 34.1% of Australians who bet use the Internet, up 18.4ppts from six years ago.
“What is clear from these figures though is that a majority of Australians who bet still don’t bet via the Internet. Over two-fifths of Australians who bet have not used the Internet to place a bet and these are the key market companies offering online betting need to target to grow their revenue.
“To gain deeper insights into who the Australians that like to have a bet are, and more importantly, how much they are spending and betting when taking a punt, the series of Roy Morgan Gambling Currency Reports are an essential analytical resource to learn more about Australian gamblers and punters.
“Combing the power of Roy Morgan Single Source and the psychographic segmentation available via Helix Personas allows a qualitative and quantitative ‘deep-dive’ to understand what drives Australian consumers – including identifying those having a punt and likely to be interested in new gambling products that they’re currently unaware of.”
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
