2011: the year of mobile gambling – finally

Where 2010 certainly became the year of m-commerce – especially in retail – 2011 is already shaping up to be the year of mobile gambling.

OK, so various analysts, journos and other great thinkers of the age (and me) have been calling it the year of mobile gambling seemingly since Jesus was a boy (or at least since Justin Beiber was a boy – not that I think he’s the second coming or anything: check out the reviews of his ‘autobiography’ on Amazon if you want a laugh), but this time it feels different.

The swell of interest in social gaming and interactive mobile game play driven along in 2010 by Farmville et al on Facebook and by the explosion of smartphones across the handset market has seen a renewed interest in gaming generally. 2011 looks poised to become the year when this enthusiasm for interactive social gaming tips over into punters placing a small wager on the outcome. And from there we will see an explosion of gambling growth.

The other key driver is the boom that I believe will happen in in sports mobile interaction. Football stadia across the world are all looking at how to move from their week-day mobile and online offerings into compelling – and premium – services they can offer in game (and by that I mean while a real game is going on). Part of this inevitably will be betting.

And it doesn’t end there. The rise of interaction with TV talent shows is likely to spill over into how gaming and gambling can be added to programme formats. As our top story this week reveals, FremantleMedia has brought its nascent gaming division into the core of its business and is looking at how to create really interesting new formats (watch out for news of this, including an exclusive TelemediaTV interview with Simon Murphy coming up at the end of January).

Bringing these to strands together, 2011 has all the ingredients to make mobile gambling not only an acceptable way to while a way a few minutes, but an increasingly integral part of social networking, game play and enjoying sporting fixtures: both live and on TV. It will also become part of the whole media consumption experience.

And Telemedia-news and our associated products are here to guide you through this brave new world. The one issue facing all gambling protagonists is getting the money in (and occasionally getting money back out again) from punters. Online, gambling sites offer a panopoly of billing tools; mobile will be the same. And that means that it won’t just be pre-registered cards, but the whole gamut of alt.billing payment tools perfected by the telemedia community. This is a huge opportunity for the industry. Are you ready to take it?