The online gambling market is booming.
This is thanks, in large part, to online casinos.
In 2024 alone, Statista reports that revenue in the online gambling market is projected to reach $100 billion — with online casinos being a huge contributor to this.
The internet is now home to over 2,000 online casinos. Interestingly, though, there’s a small number of online casinos within this pool that pull in most of the revenue. These casinos are the ‘big brands’, with millions of worldwide users to show for it.
Some of the biggest online casino brands at the moment include BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, bet365, Caesars Palace Online Casino, and BetRivers. If you were to ask a random person on the street to name the first online casino that came to their mind, they’d almost certainly say one of them.
From BetMGM to BetRivers, none of these big brands made it to the top by accident. Instead, they gradually ticked all of the right boxes that players were asking for (remember, player behaviors can change and evolve over time, too).
To put it simply, being successful in the online casino world goes far beyond flashing neon websites and slot machines. In reality, it’s much deeper.
The Workings Behind Successful Online Casino Brands
Almost every successful online casino you can think of shares the following qualities:
✅ A catchy and memorable name
✅ Wide choice of casino games and payment methods
✅ Exciting bonuses and promotions
✅ Mobile-friendly play
✅ Official licensing and regulation
In the modern age, each one of these qualities is as important as the other. Even missing just one of them can be harmful for online casino brands looking to be successful, which is why so many fail to make it off the ground. For example, you could have the best range of casino games imaginable, but if you don’t have the bonuses and promotions to go with them, it’s still going to flop.
So, let’s unpack these qualities in more detail so that you can begin to grasp the workings behind successful online casino brands today.
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A Catchy and Memorable Name
One of the most important (and underrated) factors behind successful online casino brands is simply having a catchy and memorable name. Usually, the name will be extremely short, contain one reference to gambling, and act as an incentive to get players interested.
This is why brand names like ‘BetMGM’ are so recognizable and easy to recall. Even if you only hear them once, they stick with you forever.
Alex Windsor from Gamble USA has provided his analysis on this:
“The more memorable an online casino’s name is, the better. It’s one of the most effective marketing tools that money can buy, essentially working as a springboard to help brands stand out.
If you have a player who’s looking for an online casino to join and he’s stuck between two different sites, they’ll almost always choose the one with the catchiest name or better brand recognition. That’s generally how it works.”
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Wide Choice of Casino Games and Payment Methods
Modern online casino players significantly care about choice and variety and this can be seen when you look at the quality of operators on sites like Gamble USA.
Ideally, they want game libraries with (at a minimum) 100 games to choose from that span across different categories, from online slots to table games. It also helps when these games are from popular software providers, like Pragmatic Play and NetEnt, as this ensures a quality gameplay experience.
The reason why game volume is deemed so important is because younger gamblers, especially Gen Z and Millenials, have shorter attention spans.
As a result, they enjoy regularly switching between games instead of sticking with just one for several hours. For example, this is why DraftKings has 2,000+ casino games to choose from, with 1,600 of them being online slots.
At the same time, players also look for payment method variety. As you probably know already, you have to deposit money when you join an online casino.
However, everyone is different when it comes to preferred payment methods, which is why offering a wide choice has become a top priority for the leading online casinos. Now, the average online casino accepts credit card, debit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, and more — just so that they can keep players happy.
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Exciting Bonuses and Promotions
Bonuses and promotions are a huge deal when it comes to online casino branding. One of the number one targets that casinos have is to become associated by name with exciting deals, as this keeps players coming back for more, whether it’s free spins or cash bonuses.
This is why all of the market leaders, from BetMGM to FanDuel, regularly pump out new bonuses and promotions for players to take advantage of.
Essentially, it’s a way of keeping them engaged all year-round and away from competitors. For example, BetMGM currently offers up to $1,500 in bonus bets if your first wager loses, which is helping them to attract thousands of new players every month.
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Mobile-Friendly Play
Mobile gaming and mobile gambling have skyrocketed in popularity.
Recently, the Gambling Commision found that 76% of 18-24 years old and 72% of 25-34 year olds have gambled online using their smartphones.
At the same time, Udonis estimates that there’s around 2.2 billion mobile gamers around the world. When you combine these two factors together, it then makes perfect sense why mobile casino games are now the big trend.
Whenever players are searching for online casinos to join, they’re usually focused on whether or not the casino is mobile-friendly. If it isn’t, they’re much less likely to join. This is because the average player now wants to play on-the-go using their smartphone — not via PC or laptop when they’re at home.
Fortunately, this is something that the world’s leading online casino brands have caught onto. All of the industry leaders now offer fully optimized mobile-friendly casinos that can be accessed via browser or the app store, which has helped take their player counts to whole new levels.
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Official Licensing and Regulation
The gambling industry is highly sensitive, as people care a lot about reputation, licensing, and regulation. If an online casino is officially licensed and regulated (and hasn’t had any major PR disasters), then it’s great for branding.
However, if news ever slips that an online casino has been operating without a license or something similar, it leads to the brand being destroyed.
This is why the leading online casinos all have excellent track records when it comes to licensing. BetMGM is licensed by the Gambling Commission, DraftKings is regulated by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board License, and the list goes on.
All of this leads to greater brand reputation and recognition, which is ultimately what online casinos are chasing from the beginning.
Final Thoughts
With the online gambling market in such a positive place, more online casinos than ever before are being launched.
However, there aren’t many industries out there that are as competitive as online gambling, which is why (in order to build long-lasting brands) aspiring online casinos must tick all the right boxes, from having a catchy name to offering better bonuses than their rivals.
When they do this, it provides them with the opportunity to reach the top of the pile and compete with the other big names in the industry.
