The spread of the global pandemic has led to the cancellations of a number of sporting events across the world. The most major of these are for example the Euro 2020, the Premier League as well as all other footballing leagues in Western Europe and the cancellation of the ATP Tour. Even the Summer Olympics have been postponed as of right now, so these have been very difficult times for bookmakers in general. Without the sporting events themselves then there is nothing for people to bet on and betting companies like Betvictor become somewhat redundant in such a situation.
There have thus been a number of consequences from the cancellation of sporting events for gambling companies.
Moving Online
One such consequence is a move online. Many people have moved to online casinos as a way to satisfy all of their betting desires and have simply exchanged the football pitches for roulette tables and the tennis courts for blackjack tables. There has been increased activity on poker clients that the main providers have reported.
People are basically replacing their desire to bet on the sporting events with a desire to bet on the craps or blackjack table. Slots and casinos have also proven to be popular during this lockdown, as they can provide entertainment at any time of the day, with everything outside of the game irrelevant once you start playing.
A separate consequence from the covid-19 pandemic is an increased interest in sports or places that were not considered points of interest before the spread of the virus. The Belarussian Premier League has skyrocketed in popularity, as it started when no other football was on, going from a position where no-one in the UK could name a single Belorussian team to a conversation about Belorussian football being unsurprising in a matter of weeks. TV channels from all over the world including countries such as the Netherlands, France, Spain and the United Kingdom battled in order to be able to broadcast the football. Tipsters are doubling their research into the league, proving that the desire to watch football transpires the Premier League, and even the United Kingdom in general, or whichever country. People will watch and bet on Belorussian football because people love watching football and gambling.
Brick and mortar betting shops are faring less well in this pandemic, although this is to be expected. Another consequence of the cancellation of the sporting events could be the creation of a bubble. When sport does eventually return, more and more people will be wanting to bet, and the markets could be flooded. Whether this will transpire or not is impossible to predict but it is not outside the realm of possibility.
Most companies are reporting losses as of right now however, with William Hill declaring that they could lose up to 110 million pounds because of the cancellation of various sporting events. This will be a similar figure for the big betting companies, and most people in the world are massively impatient for the return of sport. Life is not the same without it.
