Start Online Gambling Business: Comprehensive Overview

What is an online gambling business?

This term refers to an enterprise providing gambling services and sessions over the Internet, offering the opportunity to join the game on various devices, typically including forms of betting and wagering activities users participate in online. There are loads of activities from slots, roulette, and poker to lottery-style games and more.

Game-of-chance activities called gambling businesses or the luck of the draw betting operating online is one of the most promising areas. It has been growing significantly during the pandemic of COVID-2019 with total commercial revenue reaching US$100.90bn in 2024 with a CAGR of 11.5% from 2020 to 2027.

All the players’ rights are protected by the regulations and laws released by each country, and for starting businesses, it’s paramount to be aware of the legal side of the question before launching the site.

A gambling site is an online platform where users can place their bets and play games of chance and modern gambling websites aim to cover most of the user’s needs. These include playing a game, managing finances, communicating with other players or site administration, tracking their activity, accessing analytics, and more.

To get the most from online gambling business opportunities, companies build both web and mobile applications for their corporation. These can be laconic applications providing basic gambling functionality to users or feature-heavy iGaming solutions with advanced functions such as virtual reality casinos or live-streaming.

In the next section, we will provide you with a plan for launching a gambling site. With its help you will better understand what feature set to add to your solution and how to distribute your time and resources wisely.

Benefits and challenges of starting a gambling business

Getting into a gambling niche can boost your business since it’s one of the most rapidly growing sectors of online activities aimed at covering end-users’ requirements in emotional needs. Since the industry is predicted to reach USD 127.3 billion by 2027, you can enjoy the fruits of the niche’s labor and receive immeasurable benefits.

Aviability of cutting-edge technologies implementation makes it possible to receive significant profit depending on various factors like location, target market, effective marketing campaigns and more.

You are able to reach out to one of the most significant industries and cut a piece of pie by offering robust and engaging software systems for gambling. A well-run gambling company can generate substantial profits by providing services that satisfy customers demands and needs in the gaming area.

Within regions where online gambling industry is legal and regulated by the government as well as culturally accepted you are able to receive stable customer base engaged into poker, sport betting and casinos. Since brick-and-mortar casinos and other offline gambling are not available in every country, you are able to adopt a niche of online activities.

Offering smooth and robust online gambling, all your players need to have is a stable Internet connection and a laptop, PC or mobile device. Moreover you don’t need space for offline casino, for example, so you only have to manage a website or application (it is better to do both).

You are able to reach gambling market audiences all over the world, having licensing agreements with numerous countries and attracting customers from different regions expanding your potential customer base by leaps and bounds.

Another tricky and simultaneously beneficial point is that you are providing 24/7 access to gambling and with round-the-clock accessibility. This means that customers are able to play games flexibly when they have a strong Internet connection, making it possible to reach games all over the world providing them with 24/7 support and maintenance.

Compared to traditional casinos and other brick-and-mortar activities, online business is easier to scale up, offering more games, cooperating with top software manufacturers and providing the ability to explore e-sports, fantasy sports, virtual games and more.

How does it work? — you are able to reach out to a software provider like Limeup with a proven track record of success and receive a solution that covers 100% of your business needs and is easy to scale within additional features and more. You can manage average spin speed, regulatory compliance, offered services etc.

Diverse revenue streams is another make-or-break moment in how to start your own online gambling business since in addition to traditional casinos, you are able to represent your business with sports betting, virtual sports, online poker and other games that are in demand within your target audience.

You are enhancing revenue streams by having a myriad of game portfolios in your library — you are simultaneously fighting with other providers to stay ahead of the curve and offer the most widely available number of games that are in demand within your target audience.

With a robust software provider you are able to adapt to any emerging trends like adding new payment methods — lately one of such trends was about accepting payments within cryptocurrency, and now many online gambling websites and apps are offering such an opportunity.

Another trend that is worth noticing is all about gamification elements — and you are able to represent your solution with emerging technologies aimed at engaging more users and offering outstanding user experience.

While such benefits can be enticing, it’s essential to ensure that your solution operates within regulations and is compliant, including licensing, responsible gaming practices, anti-money laundering policy, etc.

Alongside a profusion of benefits of starting an online gambling business there is a profusion of challenges you have to overcome running such operations, some significant of them include:

Since the industry is highly regulated in most jurisdictions obtaining a license is a must for businesses who want to operate legally and receive benefits we have outlined above. Moreover regulatory requirements vary from country to country and require navigation within the maze of compliance standards you have to meet.

Beyond the previous challenge there are also legal options for a gaming platform that have to be followed by a business like gambling laws, taxation, anti-money laundering regulations, customer protection policy and more you have to meet. Otherwise, you will receive legal penalties.

As we have mentioned above, gambling is one of the most rapidly growing industries and there are more and more businesses on the market so the only thing that differentiates you and makes you stay ahead of the curve — you have to invest in your branding.

How to start an online gambling business legally?

There’s no one-all-fit solution and we would like to focus on the legal operation of your business and how to accomplish this complex project — jump with us into this juggle-with-fire theme.

— Research and plan. Diving into the business is exciting but you have to make a well-thought-out plan and thoroughly research the legal requirements and regulations governing online gambling within your target jurisdiction (we will consider it later). Outline your business goals, target market, revenue models, compliance strategy and even marketing campaigns if possible.

— Choose a jurisdiction. There are numerous possibilities for a favorable regulatory environment within online gambling. How to choose an online gaming license among them? — it all depends on your requirements and business needs since licenses vary with prices, regulations, terms and conditions — like Malta, the UK, the Isle of Man and more.

Look for robust regulatory frameworks deciding on how to start a gambling business, a stable legal system, acceptable pricing and terms since you may need to open a new business quickly, and obtaining a license is a time-consuming process. Prepare required documentation and undergo background software checks — it’s only the most essential activities to name.

— Provide gambler’s protection. For every player using your software there must be regulations and protections of sensitive data from fraud, unfair practices, and all risks associated with this niche including responsible gaming policy that has to be represented within your website or mobile application.

You have to implement verification and KYC (Know Your Client) systems so that people under 18 years of age are not allowed to participate in games ensuring your and their safety.

— Ensure secure payment processing. Obtaining a valid license when starting a gambling business means you are able to provide the most varied number of payment services and offer secure and reliable payment processing with your platform. You can cooperate with software providers and banks, offering payments with cryptocurrency ensuring compliance with governing regulations.

This point as the previous one also refers to KYC and AML systems since you have to provide robust security measures that protect your customers from fraud.

— Implement responsible gaming measures. You have to prioritize responsible gaming practices and publish them on your website or application, promoting safe and healthy gaming environment by implementing tools like self-exclusion, deposit limits, age verification and more.

How to choose the best payment solutions for online gaming

After you’ve figured out what stays behind the term, strategy, gaming license and more another essential point is about choosing the payment system to work with. The choice of a payment solution will directly influence the number of people trusting you and your services. A reliable payment solution provider can increase conversion and user satisfaction and ensure regulatory compliance.

Definitely, the choice will depend on the scale of your online gambling business, the region you operate in, the peculiarities of your business model, user preferences, and more. Here is the list of the factors to consider when making such a choice:

Fees and related expenses

To start your own online gambling business with no damage to the budget, consider fees and related expenses of using payment solutions. They typically charge payment processing fees which are the fees businesses pay for the opportunity to receive money from their clients. Payment processing fees can be charged monthly or per transaction and can be fixed price fees or a percentage of the payment sum.

To select the best payment gateway for your gambling website, explore the most popular service providers in your region. Choose one that offers all the necessary features and an affordable pricing model.

Payment method variety

To start an online gambling business that pays off, you should provide a payment method variety for users. Your potential provider of the payment solution should support a variety of payment methods to give your clients enough flexibility. The more payment methods are supported by the service provider the better. The must-have payment options include credit and debit cards, bank transfers, e-wallets, mobile payments etc.

In this context mobile payments are of particular importance since in 2022 mobile payments accounted for almost half of all online transactions worldwide. Popularity of mobile payments grows because of the user convenience, time efficiency, and security they offer. This should be taken into account when choosing the best payment solution with a focus on mobile.

Solution security

The more secure your payment solution is the more chances that your users will eagerly invest your money in your gambling business. When choosing between popular payment solution providers, do not forget to dive into the security aspect. Discover measures they take to offer the security of transactions for their clients.

Try to find a payment solution provider implementing advanced security measures. For example data encryption, payment fraud prevention measures, compliance with industry standards etc.

Compliance

The reliability of your payment service provider will have an influence on your reputation among clients. This is why you need to choose a compliant service provider and make sure that they follow the relevant regulations in their area. For instance such regulations include KYC, AML and others.

These regulations are an essential and critical juncture in the process of verifying customers’ identity by collecting personal data like government-issued documents, address, full name etc. There is also a possibility to collect the source of funds, EDD, and providing ongoing monitoring.

Integration ease

To start a gambling business, you need to make sure that the payment solution of your choice can be easily integrated with your website or application. This will reduce the development and integration effort and cut the costs involved in building a gambling site. The best scenario is when your payment solution provider offers integration tools like software development kits, plugins, or APIs, which can streamline the integration process.

Integrations are possible within cooperation with robust software development provider, then you are able collect payments within cryptocurrency or other cutting-edge available options.

Client support

Your payment solution provider should also offer reliable client support. Anytime you and your clients should have the chance to refer to them for help since provider should be responsive and offer user guidance on their website. By choosing a trusted software company, you will make sure that your users get only positive impressions of making payments on your site and have a chance to resolve any issues quickly.

There is a bounty of stories when payments are not available and you have to present an opportunity within 24/7 support so that your customers and players are able to refill their accounts anytime.

How much does it cost to start an online gambling business?

The costs of starting such a business depend on a range of factors, including project scope, budget, project timeframe, location, licensing, compliance costs etc. Establishing an offline business is always more costly compared to starting an online gambling business. Apart from the factors mentioned above you will also have to buy equipment, rent premises, hire more people, and more.

When it comes to online gambling it also requires profound investments, but such a business is more efficient and easier to manage. The biggest part of the funds is spent on hiring a tech team and creating a website. The rest of the expenses are related to marketing and promotion.

In both cases, you will have to invest money in regulatory compliance. The costs depend on the location of your business and the country in which you operate. Your software development partner will help you estimate the expenses and optimize the process of setting up a new business, considering all your limitations and capabilities.

To consider these points in more detail, let’s start with licensing fees in question “How do I start an online gambling business” — you have to pay for iGaming and gambling license from regulatory authorities which incur the substantial cost and it’s a significant upfront investment that depends on the country, the type of gambling activities you would like to perform and more.

Software development considers website or mobile app creation and maintenance — from gaming software to user interface, UX design, backend infrastructure and visually appealing frontend. Hiring experienced developers you will receive user-friendly platform with the highest level of security and rich functionality.

Marketing and promotion alongside branding is what makes you stand out from the crowd so you have to consider it as an investment in your revenue models as well. Executing comprehensive marketing strategies to attract and retain customers you will need to involve more spendings within SEO, affiliate marketing and more.

24/7 customer support is another make-or-break moment that needs to be covered since you are able to reach a global customer base providing customer support services addressing inquiries, resolving issues offering a seamless gaming experience. You also have to present a robust training platform for online poker for example.

Want to start your own online gambling business?

Gambling has come a long way from being an offline activity to online representation within gambling websites and applications. Nowadays this system’s awareness and increasing popularity make it one of the hot commodity business ideas in the eyes of the general public, who are ready to spend their time with online gambling.

As specialists in this niche, we have arranged a comprehensive guide covering your questions about the principles it operates on, cost, development process, benefits and challenges. Knowing more about gambling, you are able to make more well-informed decisions that cover your needs within compliance and regulations, market trends and visions.

If you are determined to enter the gambling industry and want to facilitate your effort with an experienced software development and design team we will gladly help with your online gambling project. Contact us for a free introductory consultation where we will meet each other and explore your business concept.