How Much Do Online Casinos Make

It’s not surprising that more people are wondering how much online casinos make when you consider that the global iGaming market – that of online sports betting and gaming – was valued at £60.5 billion in 2021. Many of the companies that own online casinos are publicly listed, so we can deliver more accurate answers to this question, but that’s not all you’ll learn.

We’ll be delving into online casino profits, platform profitability, the expenses, and difficulties that owners face, and how some of these online casino management issues can be avoided.

How much do online casinos make?

Every online casino is different, which makes landing on an exact figure for online casino earnings quite difficult. One way would be to roughly split a company’s stated casino gaming profits and divide them by their platforms. Flutter Entertainment, one of the world’s largest online gambling companies, hit gaming revenues of £1.67 billion in 2020.

Per Flutter’s 2020 annual report and account, Paddy Power Betfair had gaming revenue after VAT of £497 million, PokerStars hit £711.5 million, and the Sky platforms made £264.1 million for its casino games. Across their US platforms, £215.9 million was brought in from gaming revenue.

Flutter has brands in the UK, Ireland, the US, India, and platforms in Arabic. So, spotting exactly where an online casino can make more money is tough to say from these calculations. We could run a similar calculation for the UK in general.

The November 2022 Industry Report from the UKGC marked a gross gambling yield of £3.9 billion from online casino games. On their public register in mid-2023, 193 businesses tick the boxes of ‘Casino’ and ‘Remote.’ This would make for an average UK online casino GGY of £20.2 million annually.

What are the main sources of online casino profits?

Of course, what drives how profitable online casinos are is the selection of games that the platform offers. Slots are easily the biggest earner for online casinos, especially in the UK.

In the most recent UKGC report, £3 billion of the online casino sector’s total £3.9 billion gross gambling yield came via slot games. That leaves £0.9 billion of online GGY, or 23.08 per cent, to come by way of table games, poker, and bingo.

What are the main expenses for an online gambling operator?

A key factor to consider when asking how much money an online casino makes is the expenses. Naturally, these are far lower than land-based casinos as grounds, physical maintenance, and other services aren’t required in the same sense, and the number of staff members is generally smaller.

Platforms will still have to foot the bill for any offices, salaries, and bonuses of the leadership and technical staff. However, online casinos still need to pay application fees and annual fees to become licence holders in all markets with regulatory bodies.

On top of this, online casinos need to register for and pay taxes, as well as adhere to the rules of the regulatory body. In March 2023, one of the largest operators, William Hill, was subject to a record £19 million settlement for failing to abide by the UKGC’s requirements of social responsibility and anti-money-laundering.

Some larger companies, like Flutter, will spend money attempting to sway legislation, otherwise known as lobbying. Their 2021 Preliminary Results Statement refers to a decline in operating costs despite “ongoing expenses associated with efforts to pass sports betting legislation.”

As you’d assume, a good way to gauge how much an online casino makes is to look at its monthly active users. This is why so much is invested in marketing campaigns and similar expenses. It’s estimated that, of an online casino’s post-launch expenses, marketing takes up the largest chunk at up to 50 per cent of its outgoings.

Helping maximise this is the roughly 15 per cent paid to game providers to keep the pages looking fresh, and the subsequent 12 per cent paid in software support.

What difficulties are involved in online casino management?

When specifically looking at online casino management as opposed to any other online-centric management role, you can identify five key areas that present difficulties:

• Building and maintaining the best platform possible.
• Identifying appealing games and forming relationships with trusted software providers.
• Analysing and running advertising, affiliate, and other marketing campaigns for maximum visibility and customer appeal.
• Navigating the varied regulation landscape of each market.
• Hiring a team that can keep the platform running smoothly and extend its reach to new customers.

Managing these difficulties sensibly and efficiently – or preventing them altogether – is how online gambling sites are able to make so much money. It requires the right technical support, a flexible and suitable platform, and people who know how to stay on top of all the rules and regulations.

The key driver of profits is player acquisition and retention, which is why there’s such a huge focus on marketing and loyalty schemes for gambling sites.

H2: How can EvenBet Gaming solve online casino management issues?

EvenBet Gaming offers omnichannel poker software for online casinos and poker rooms through fully customised platforms and streamlined setup services.

We offer a huge range of superlative features that aid customer retention, while the bespoke platforms make it quick and easy to apply your own branding efforts. Streamlining the process further, customer service solutions and payment systems come as part of the setup, and any game from a reputable software provider can be seamlessly integrated into the platform.

How much money do you need to start an online casino?

Considering how much money online casinos can make when equipped with a good strategy, the startup costs are relatively small. Of course, where an online casino is opened will play a large part in these fees. Setting up the company, acquiring a licence, and paying the associated setup and first annual fees will comprise much of the immediate costs. Malta Gaming Authority, for example, charges a licence fee of around £22,000 annually and a bit over £2000 for the application process.

Next on the bill is the software, and this may end up costing even more. Building and maintaining a website is one thing, but a new online casino will also need to spend money on bringing in games from trusted developers or invest heavily – upwards of £70,000, some figures say – in developing unique games.

Throw in the staff required in the build-up to launch, as well as other fees, arranging payment methods, and some marketing, and the initial costs before looking at how much online gambling can make can amount to well over £100,000.

Now that you know how much online casinos make and how profitable they can be after hefty expenses, you can work out if the iGaming business is a good fit for you. Get in touch with us today to learn how EvenBet’s gaming platforms can make iGaming work for you.