Home / Poker News November 2012 / A new Online Poker Boom Looming?
A new Online Poker Boom Looming?
Posted by: James Carter. - Mon, 2012-11-05 05:57
The
online poker industry has slowed down quite a bit in recent years due to the legal problems the start of which was marked by the passing of the 2006 UIGEA. Since then, other countries have come up with legalization and regulation, many of them adopting rather restrictive licensing processes. As a result of all this legal adversity, active online player numbers have dropped by leaps and bounds. While legalization and regulation will certainly come with the added burden of additional taxes, the regulation of the game in the US is widely hailed as a turning point in this downward trend. No one yet knows if and when it will happen, but experts are already busy analyzing its potential impact.
Most of these experts agree that even with the possible taxes factored in, US legalization would no doubt lead to a massive online poker boom again. Nowhere is this boom more apparent than in the projected online marketing spending, which – according to some – may top $3.5 or even $4 billion over the 5 years following legalization.
According to these experts, the initial years will see a massive land-grab, with companies spending around 30-40% of their net revenues on online marketing, essentially on acquiring new players.
According to Caesars Interactive and WSOP CEO Mitch Garber, the nature of the money spent on online marketing will go through a radical change a well. While traditionally, most of the marketing funds targeted SEO, this time around, a lot more money will be spent on interactive advertising.
This will of course include television advertising, but billboards and magazines will feel the power of the advertising surge too. More creative ways of advertising will also be targeted in the new rush.
The bottom line: the online marketing industry will be back in full force.
