Sports betting plunging without any sport

With the global shutdown of most sporting events instead of the usual Super Sunday on Sky Sports or the Six Nations on BBC people were left with replacements of re-runs or films to watch. This has the knock on effect of reducing sports betting to a bare minimum.

This also meant that the betting market took a hit as well. The weekends are some of the busiest times for gaming companies but with no sport on, there was relatively little in terms of markets for punters.

Niche sports betting sees increase

Over in Australia, the NRL took place as usual, despite other sports being cancelled including the first Formula One race of the season in Melbourne. This led to a large increase in betting on the NRL.

In the US, Nascar, MMA and even Cricket saw increased betting as punters scrambled to find opportunities.

With minimal sporting activity, the options for people are extremely limited. Virtual sports can continue as normal yet unlike traditional sports rarely have the same excitement or passion of traditional sports.

It remains unknown how long sports will continue to be postponed. The English Premier League is on hold until April but many are estimating that play is unlikely to resume before the summer, if at all.

Casinos shutting down

Other forms of gaming are not immune either. The Wynn resort is closing both its hotels for two weeks and the MGM Grand is ceasing casino operations today, with a full closure happening from tomorrow. This follows the closure of the Holland Casino in Amsterdam on Friday as Coin Rivet reported.

As predicted though, online poker is seeing a sharp increase in users as it provides a safe alternative for many players.

The bigger picture

Sports betting is not alone in this crisis though. Throughout the world we are seeing the fall of stocks, and everyday people worried about how their income could be impacted.

As the crisis continues to drag on, the world is entering uncharted territory of which sports betting is but a very small cog in the wheel.

Update: Both William Hill and GVC have announced that they are suspending their dividend payment to shareholders. 53% of William Hill’s income was via sports betting in 2019.