“Many Factors Fueling Online Gambling Craze”

Increasing access to broadband technology is being cited as a main force behind the current online gambling craze, but other factors may be just as important if not more so.

Being able to bypass state controlled betting (Pari Mutuel Urbain, or PMU) is one of the things making online gambling so attractive to the French these days, and attractive it surely is. If the numbers are right, the French are even more taken with this phenomenon than their British counterparts. Statistics computed by Nielsen/Net Ratings show that the French spend an hour betting online, a figure which is three times higher than the twenty minutes that the British spend on online betting. It also appears that the French engage in twice as many sessions as online gamblers in the UK.

The British are no slouches, however, when it comes to the online gambling rage. To date, there’s been a 45 percent increase over last year in the percentage of its population frequenting online gambling sites. Some people in the industry credit this trend to the widespread use of broadband. 75% of UK online gamblers do use the high-speed link, and predictions are that in no time at all a greater percentage of the UK population will be engaging in online gambling than the percentage in the U.S.

Nevertheless, it is unclear whether it is the high-speed link itself which accounts for this growth in popularity. Online gambling is quite popular in Sweden, for instance, but only 56 percent of players there use the high-speed link. That’s quite a contrast with France, where 85% take advantage of the broadband technology.

The appeal of online gambling for the French is perhaps not so different than it is for Americans, in that they don’t have to deal with sticky legal issues. In France, the state controls horse race betting, lotto and the National Lottery, and casinos can only be found in towns with special statuses. But by accessing online gambling sites, the French are free to gamble in an easy and convenient manner.

This ease and convenience is perhaps what accounts for the 14 million people in Europe who are placing wagers on online gambling sites; in the U.S., that number is 20 million. And growing.