Final Paper Online Gambling Emarket paper

Michael Aldi
December 8th, 2007
Professor: Boone
Emarket Paper

Online Gambling is an act of wagering money on the outcome of a game or sporting event in the hope of predicting the correct outcome and winning the bet. People normally gamble because they are feeling lucky, whether its buying a lottery ticket, playing a slot machine, or playing cards, many people gamble simply because they feel lucky. Think about it, how many times have you had a good feeling about something and took a chance at it? It may not always be about the money, but more about the rush, the thrill and excitement you may have watching the game. Gambling brings such emotional highs and lows and can be sufficient enough to keep the gambler addicted to the game.
Sometimes life can be very boring so we look for ways to escape the realness of our lives. It can be your just bored, or unhappy at home, but people seem to find a brief fix from gambling and for that period of time escape from the reality of there lives. When you think about online gambling you think it is a way to win easy money. Don’t think that way, of course it can also be a great way to lose money. Most gamblers play optimistically and do not dwell at the possibility of losing that’s why it is so addicting.
“People have been arguing for years whether the desire to gamble is good or bad. It is the view of many people that gambling is bad; this is especially true with the more religious people. Others will tell you that gambling is good and that without taking a risk which is a form of gambling we would not have much of what we have today without people gambling and risking what they had to get more.”(Schneider, 2007)
Online Gambling is a very competitive industry, and the primary target market lives in a country where online gambling is illegal, making it very difficult to advertise on television, newspapers, or magazines. “The leading search engines won't take your paid search listings, and credit card companies and Pay Pal will deny all the transactions that your customers wish to make. What to do?” (Macklin, 2007) This is much of the problem online gambling industry faces, but some how still attracts and grows in the market where it can be called legal.
“The primary target market for the online gambling sector, and particularly online poker and sports betting, are males aged 18 - 35 years old. Online casino, bingo and skill games skew more toward women but the majority of marketing efforts to date have been targeted at the Gen X, sport-loving, single male with an average income of more than $70,000.”(Macklin, 2007)
Having this in mind for your target market, many of the times sponsorship of sports, and sports people has been a large portion of marketing for online sports book companies. A lot of the leading poker sites advertise “how to play poker,” to direct viewers to an educational site opposed to a commercial one. Many online gambling websites have put posters in sports bars, in order to hit their target market, also advertising in trade magazines, such as Card player, Bluff, and many others.
“Many in the online gambling industry have been forced to employ this type of viral marketing strategy to quickly raise awareness because of the restrictions placed on other marketing channels. Word-of-mouth marketing, which has been around forever, is now being better studied and quantified and the online gambling industry has been one of the best exponents of this type of marketing.”(Macklin, 2007)
“Despite potential addiction problems, online gambling also could present a significant opportunity for companies that are willing to target gamblers. In a recent report on the industry, analyst Chris Charron noted that 7 percent of online consumers already gamble on the Net. "Marketers, start your engines!" he wrote. "These online risk takers are big fans of online shopping, being more likely to buy online than non gamblers are." Charron told the E-Commerce Times that Web bettors are receptive to marketing, have money and are willing to spend it.”(Millard 2003)
The Internet has been a huge success for websites such as Sports.com, and Sportsbook.com and has made gambling feasible online. For example, a US citizen can now, from his or her home at any hour of the day or night, participate in any online gambling through one of these similar websites. Sportsbook.com’s slogan is “where everybody bets,” and is enjoyed by millions of American adults who like to bet on sports, play poker, blackjack, and many other casino games. Sportsbook.com being named “Best Us Sports Book,” two times. They have made it fun and easy for their gamblers to use this site. They have been the first to reach every significant industry milestone, from record turnover, to active users, to number of bets. They have hit the target market so hard that to this day they get fifteen bets per second. Being the Leading and largest sports book online its products have been featured on CBS 60 minutes, CNN, ESPN, Wall Street Journal, Barons, Financial Times, USA Today and in every US Newspaper because of there promotions and popularity. Just by word of mouth this website is used by millions of people because it meets there needs of online gambling. Sportsbook.coms top priorities is to make sure that there target market is well looked after, by offering 24 hour technical support, 7 days a week.
Sports.com on the other hand just by signing up gives you 10% on your first deposit made on their website. They use a different saying, “The First World in Sports Betting Since 1996.” What more could you ask for? Sports.com guarantees all members can count on first-rate customer service, hundreds of betting options, and great bonuses. Sports.com also has reached all of these milestones from record turnover to active users to number of bets, basically in this online world they target the same group of people and make it so the public gets to choose which site best fits there needs. Sports.com responds to their target market betters by giving them such a variety of wagering options, free contests, and many chances to win free money. Nothing really differentiates these websites except who created them and what they have on them. Some offer more than others, and some seem better than others. Basically they all advertise to the same public and they rely on us to choose which set best suites us. These two sites both offer top-notch security to its users, and also except Visa and MasterCard making it easy for its users to operate online. These online betting casinos and sports books process over 100 million each month worth of wagers and obviously the are doing something right because they have got control of the market they need and people continue to bet. These websites believe that and educated player is a more responsible gambler.
After navigating both websites multiple times I came to the conclusion that Sportsbook.com is the latest betting addiction. It is among the best online gambling sites in the US and its very easy to use. It has faultless security, excellent customer service, and some of the best bonuses I've seen on the web. This site to me was very comprehensive without being confusing, a great layout, and probably the easiest on the net to make and track bets.
“Sportsbook.com has everything a gamer dreams of - sports book, poker, and casino. When you're looking for action, it just doesn't get any better than at Sportsbook.com.”(2006-2007 www.sportsbook-watch.com)
Overall I feel the online gaming industry is a strong upcoming business and I have learned a lot of how it is they will do this.