And They’re Off! Australians Leads the World in Sports. A Sport Betting That is.
Sports gambling in Australia have risen enormously especially over the past few decades, with the 1990’s seeing some of the most dramatic rises in the number of Australians having a punt on the sport of their choosing. According to data collected by the Australian government, the expenditure on all the legalized gambling activities in Australia exceeded $11 Billion in 1997-1998 financial year. During that decade, poker machines had infiltrated various pubs and clubs in all the territories and states, with the exclusion of Western Australia. In fact, data collected from different states in Australia indicate that there is at least a casino operating within each territory or state, with the increase in pokies directly attributed to rises in problem gambling and the negative impact this was having on communities.
Interestingly, the same expenditure being gambled on sports and related activities remained on par with pokie spend yet had no direct or even indirect impact on problem gambling figures. It seems as though Australians as a whole were able to embrace sports betting the same way they embraced sports in general
Online Betting | Increase In Sports Betting Activities
Online Bookmakers and internet sports betting websites have really flourished in Australia due in part to the culture that exists there – a culture that has always embraced sports and extends so far as to include a horse race that quite literally stops the nation*
A survey of business indicated that there are over 30,000 legitimate online sports betting services being offered to the Australians, an increase of 10% since 2015. Over the past decade, this number has increased by 30% with new bookmakers often establishing their business in Australia. The sports betting services are accessible to all the Australian citizens who are over the age of 18 years.
*The Melbourne cup quite literally stops the entire country, with statistics revealing that across the great southern land the total outlay on bets placed for the Melbourne Cup was in excess of $300million
How Much do the Australians spend on Sports Betting
Well, according to the productivity commission inquiry, on average, over 300,000 gamblers made on average $15,000 per year from sports betting. The inquiry found out that most of the low-income people were spending a bigger proportion of their earnings on playing various pokies machine games as well as indulging in sports betting.
The number though is estimated to be close to $26billion that Australians spend each and every year betting on the various sporting events and 90,000+ horse/dog races that run seemingly non-stop*
*Source
The Australian government benefits from the gambling by collecting over $1B in taxes from the licensed gambling activities in Australia. Sports betting, football pools and lotteries generated over $200M, which represents 25% of the total gambling and betting expenditure.
From the facts above, it is easy to conclude that the Australian citizens have really mastered their art in sports betting. An increase in the number of bookmakers offering various casino services, an increase in the amount of money spent on sports betting and a rise in the number of people participating in the sports betting activities is a clear indication of how healthy sports betting is in Australia.