The history of gambling in London and the UK has shaped the gambling industry. Even in the earliest days of online casino gaming and sports betting, UK-based companies pioneered regulations and technology that accommodated this exponentially growing gambling method.
Now that these online markets are deeply rooted in the global gambling industry, with many UK-based companies spearheading global iGaming innovation, there’s been a notable change in the number of Brits, particularly Londoners, turning to online lotteries for entertainment. However, what’s behind this surge, and why do they opt for digital platforms rather than conventional physical tickets and shops? Let’s have a look.
A unique city in a global market
London is a world city; it looks outwards at the globe, and companies based in the Big Smoke often monitor rival companies that are innovating to either equal them or better them.
Online gambling quickly became a global vision for those in the industry, which is glaringly obvious. Why would casinos and sportsbooks continue trying to impress a tiny percentile of the world’s gambling population when they could branch out, expand their businesses tenfold, and put themselves on the international map?
Not only has London played a pivotal role in this development, but the rapidly expanding market has resulted in the growth of subsidiaries rearing their head and making a success of themselves.
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Lotteries in the digital age
Online lotteries face a different battle in the vastness of the online gambling ecosystem. They are highly regulated at a domestic level, and it’s rare that gamblers outside the country access them or use them. In a market where people can effortlessly access plenty of casino games, it’s understandable. There was a time when lotteries were the spearhead of weekend TV competitions and plastered across advertising boards throughout a variety of countries.
In the UK, it’s a staple of the gambling tradition that runs through the collective psyche of Brits. It was synonymous with Saturday night television back in the mid-to-late 20th century. It’s still very much a staple of primetime weekend TV, switching from BBC to ITV in 2018.
There are several reasons that Londoners specifically are moving back to online lotteries as a form of entertainment. While the research suggests that there hasn’t been a notable decline in the number of Londoners seeking out other gambling markets, such as sportsbooks and online casinos, niche online lottery games are seeing more action.
Exploring a genuine alternative
Lotteries have been unable to switch from land-based to digital operations with the same vigour and ease as traditional casino games. However, the recent surge has emerged from related games that have taken the essence of lotto competitions and turned them into contemporary and innovative digital versions.
Instead of following the rigid format of six numbers and a bonus ball, quickfire online competitions have resulted in a flurry of successful and unsuccessful ideas emerging as alternative online lotto games.
There are many games to mention, but in the UK alone, smaller lotto-based competitions like Thunderball, Millionaire Maker and EuroMillions have emerged, to name but a few. While there are alternatives to casino games have alternatives, especially slots, they delve into a wide range of elements and themes.
Some of them are so complex, varied and ranging in theme that they are essentially different games. Lottery competitions keep the same framework and blueprint, even if they do explore different audiovisual approaches.
It’s a relatively unexplored area of the gambling industry
Unlike saturated casino gaming markets such as slots and roulette, which are becoming inundated with the same types of games, lottery competitions were slightly later to arrive at the party. As a result, there’s still innovation and a genuine intrigue at what they offer, which has helped to prop up the market in the eyes of Londoners.
In the modern market, local and domestic competitions have now moved online. While the lottery has a much grander presence in UK society, it too could not ignore the vast leaps forward in digital technology.
Even those lotto gamers who had always put their numbers down at the local shop had to admit there’s a much easier way of doing things. Instead of going down to the post office, supermarket or newsagents, you can download the app, select numbers on the move, or automatically set your numbers up if you play the same numbers every week–. The payment can be set as a direct debit-style payment, so it’s much simpler.
If we had to pick one key reason why Londoners turn to online lotteries for entertainment, it would probably be convenience.
Conclusion
Over the last 20 years, gambling markets have gone from local, or in the lotteries’ case, national competitions, to something that can be accessed by people all over the globe.
Although this doesn’t apply to the UK lottery, Londoners have noticed how much of the gambling market has shifted online. It’s an easier way to do things, and if you are partial to a lottery game, you can play without putting your shoes on and taking a trip down to the local post office or newsagents.
London is the hub of the UK economy, and any trends that appear in the capital have the potential to branch out into the broader national market. It also helps prop up the UK economy. If a market is doing well in London, it’s likely to spread across the UK and be picked up by a broader international audience.
This isn’t always the case, but London is such a tough market to crack from an entertainment perspective that if any changes or trends emerge, such as online lotteries, then there’s a good chance this could result in a change as gambling companies look to capitalise.
