Many things run through a punter’s mind when they are betting or playing a modern online slot in a casino. Most of those questions are about the processes of betting, of course, about making the decisions that will bring home a nice amount of winnings and that warm glow that comes with a successful bet. But sometimes the mind wanders onto other topics, especially if the gods of fortune are not smiling on you that day.
One question that occupies the thoughts of many punters is how much money do casinos actually make? Whether you are playing in a bricks and mortar casino or you prefer to spin the wheels of fortune online, just how much of your hard-earned dough ends up in the pockets of the casino owner? Those are the questions that we hope to answer in this blog. Read on to discover just how much do casinos make.
The Types of Casinos
The gambling industry has gone through some profound changes over the last two decades. For one thing, the popularity of gambling of all types has increased massively. This is largely a result of the way that the media has developed. As television coverage of sport grew over the last half of the 20th century, so did the public appetite for betting. The arrival of the internet boosted this appetite even further.
The arrival of digital technology helped to trigger a more liberal approach to gambling regulation from many governments too, especially in the United Kingdom. This has led to an explosion in the popularity of gambling generally, and particularly of online betting and gaming. This has helped to generate massive profits for bookmakers and casinos, and has given the betting industry significant economic influence.
Before we take a closer look at the kind of money that casinos make, we’ll give you an overview of the two main types of casino that are now operating in the industry.
Real world casinos
Traditional, bricks and mortar casinos are still very much in existence, despite the proliferation of online casinos over the last decade or so. The image of casinos has changed somewhat too, with them becoming much more respectable and mainstream than they once were. Someone who frequents casinos is unlikely to be thought of as somewhat disreputable, which might have been the case in days gone by, when gambling was less socially acceptable.
One interesting development over the last couple of decades has been the growth of chains of casinos, such as Genting, which has premises in many UK cities. In comparison to the casinos of yesteryear, which were often after-hours operations located in the seedy side of town, these casinos are clean, safe places that offer customers a very corporate experience that revolves around offering a whole host of social activities as well as gaming.
Online casinos
An online casino works in a very different way to a normal casino. The demographic that uses slot game and other casino games also differs from the one that favours going out to a casino. While a trip to a real word casino can be the focus of a social event, it is not something that most people do on an especially regular basis. Online gambling is a very different sort of activity.
People tend to use online casinos at home when they are on their own. Online gaming is generally a much more solitary activity than a trip out to a real world casino. This means that there is much more variety when it comes to the age, sex and social class background of the people playing in an online casino.
Older people and women are much more likely to enjoy online casino gaming, for example, then they are to make a visit to a real life casino. This changes the marketing strategy for online casinos, as they look to make offers to different sections of the gaming community. It also opens up far more opportunities for targeted marketing campaigns that can significantly boost profit.
So how do casinos actually make?
Of course, it would be impossible to ascertain how much each casino currently operating in the world makes on a daily basis. That kind of information is not just thrown around in public. Casinos are serious businesses that need to protect their assets, and information about the profit they are making is certainly an important asset. Some casinos in some countries are required by local regulation to publish their profits, though, so we can use these figures to get a good idea of the kind of sums that many casinos are bringing in.
Obviously, there are also several variables that can affect the amount of money that a casino makes. Location is one factor that can play a really significant part in determining profit
It is, however, possible to find some anecdotal evidence on the internet about how much money real world casinos can make on a daily basis. The figures are pretty eye watering when you consider them.
Figures released in spring 2019 by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show the nine casinos that are directly under their regulation record collective profits of $87million. That is a huge amount of money. What might shock many readers, though, is that that figure actually shows a 30% decline on the profits the same casinos made in the same period in 2018.
Verdict on the profitability of UK Casinos
So you can see that massive amounts of money can be made by casinos. Of course, no casino is guaranteed to make such massive amounts of money. They need to be well-run, managed correctly, adhere to local and national laws and regulations, and have excellent marketing departments.
The amount of money that a casino can make depends on all these factors and more. What is certain, though, is that the profits that can be made in the casino industry can be massive. As with any other industry, though, you need to have plenty of industry specific expertise and talent to make a casino chain, whether bricks and mortar or online, a profitable enterprise.