When a new era is coming, it challenges the existing reality and people witness the clash of industries. It’s something similar to the change of generation in sports, for example. Those who are F1 devotees, remember clearly the legendary Michael Schumacher, a seven-time Formula 1 World Champion who was long associated with the sport itself.
However, we all realized that a whole era is changing with the arrival of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel on the F1 stage. This is not about who is better, but who is winning the clash, and it’s the same in industrial changes, with one exception: In sports, athletes naturally retire whereas industries may keep their positions as long as they succeed.
The convenience and accessibility that we experienced thanks to the internet, impacted many industries, emerging new forms of platforms, products, and services. The data we analyze tells us that digitization is expected to pass $1 billion by 2025. This growing trend challenges industries working based on traditional forms, from media channels like TV, newspapers, and radio to card games and beyond.
We separated several well-established new industries that are proactively fighting over their chance to become a dominant choice for customers.
Online Gaming and Online Casinos
When it comes to industrial clashes in the modern era, the case study of online gambling Vs. traditional casinos are a perfect example of how things may change drastically in one domain.
In this case, it was the gambling market where significant changes occurred after the growing number of online gaming platforms, expected to reach $136 billion by 2029, challenged traditional casinos.
And it’s all thanks to how easy and convenient it is to gamble online. This digitization of gambling has put immense pressure on the old-guard titans who relied on the destination resort model.
Suddenly, they’re forced to compete with sleek mobile apps and websites that can replicate much of the casino experience with none of the travel and overhead costs.
Of course, the live, in-person atmosphere is something the online realm still struggles to fully capture. But make no mistake – online casino platforms are quickly closing that experiential gap. Thanks to tech innovations like live dealer games streamed from real-life studios, online betting platforms can now offer an authentic social element along with gameplay.
For every new mega-resort opening, it feels like a dozen new online casinos have launched to vie for a piece of the lucrative digital pie. This clash will likely only intensify as both sectors double down with new immersive technologies like VR gambling on the horizon. Adapting to these digital winds of change will separate casino winners from losers.
The Era of Netflix-ing
If we’re talking about new industries asserting dominance over entrenched incumbents, we have to discuss the Netflix-led streaming revolution. Because in just a couple of decades, this pioneering platform has turned the ancient art of watching TV & movies completely on its head.
Once upon a time, primetime programming and blockbuster film releases called all the shots in our entertainment diets. We planned our lives around catching the buzziest new shows or making it to Friday night’s big movie opening. Those days feel increasingly quaint and antiquated.
With about 270 million global subscribers, Netflix has indisputably trained the world’s eyeballs on a new way of watching. Everything from their bingeable release models to personalized recommendations has shaped how modern audiences discover and consume content.
And just like that, decades of established viewing habits and business models got utterly Netflixed. Sure, appointment TV and theater exclusives still carry cache and viewership inertia. But it’s Netflix’s innovative stream that now charts the course for the entire industry to chase. An object lesson in the power of disruptive change.
Traditional Sports Vs. eSports
While streaming’s takeover of traditional entertainment has dominated recent headlines, another clash of old and new mediums is quietly brewing – and it revolves around the very idea of what constitutes “sports.”
On one side, you have athletics’ legacy institutions and fan cultures. The NFL, FIFA, NBA, and every other major traditional sports league have reigned supreme for generations, serving as the pinnacle of physical competition and cultural zeitgeist.
On the other side of this clash, though, a thoroughly modern phenomenon called esports has exploded into relevance. Thanks to the meteoric rise of competitive pro gaming, a whole new generation of athletes and fans has emerged. Instead of putting ball to court or foot to turf, these digital gladiators wage battle with controllers and keyboards as their sportswear.
What was once a niche has mutated into a billion-dollar industry. Top esports pros can net seven-figure salaries, with marquee events like the League of Legends World Championships pulling in millions of viewers to rival the Super Bowl’s scale.
The old sports guard certainly isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. However, the competitive rise of this digital gaming realm signals an ideological schism in the very notion of athletic competition. An old-vs-new clash for the future of sports entertainment before our very eyes.