The Pandemic Effect On Sports Betting And Online Casinos

• The coronavirus has stopped the sports world and had a huge effect on the overall gambling industry
• In America, the hiatus of sports have increased online gambling numbers by at least 25%.
• From studies in European countries, sports bettors are not turning to online gambling and in fact, online gambling numbers are decreasing.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – The absence of sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the sports betting world and internet casinos in many ways.

The pandemic has paused the sports world which in turn has halted the sports betting business.

Though this has negatively impacted the gambling industry financially as a whole, it could help with a quicker expansion of sports betting in states and legal online gambling in the US.

“Both activities provide states, whose economies have been massively disrupted by the outbreak, the opportunity to capture new revenue immediately in the form of upfront license fees, and over time through taxes,” said Chris Kraficik, managing director with Eilers & Krejcik Gaming.

Internet casinos have seen a rise in interest since the suspension of sports. Online slots are up by 25% and poker is up by 38% in the recent months of the coronavirus pandemic.

America’s legal online gambling numbers are what most would think would happen during this time since there are no sports to bet on.

However, a new study finds that for many European countries, the opposite is true and internet casinos are facing a deficit at this time.

Without sports, sports bettors are not spending their money playing on online casino games.

According to “Gambling Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among European Regular Sports Bettors: An Empirical Study Using Behavioral Tracking Data”, online gambling decreased along with the sports betting through the months since sports were on hiatus.

The amount of sports bettors that placed a bet at least five weeks during the first 10 weeks of the year and also played online games was 76%. After the first week of March, only 60% of those bettors played online casino games.

Whether this trend continues is uncertain; however, this surprising study certainly cleared the air about how online casinos have fared since the COVID-19 pandemic.

With sports coming back in the upcoming weeks, online casinos are ready for another increase in players.