As coronavirus cases hit 3 million, and surpass over 200,000 deaths, countries from all over the world have begun to impose lockdown and social distancing measures, attempting to slow the spread of the virus, and save lives in the process. Whilst necessary, these restrictions have had a drastic impact on numerous different industries, including sports and sports betting – with such major events as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the UEFA Champions League finals postponed in response to COVID-19. With so many major sporting events for this year now postponed, the sports betting industry is taking a significant blow, potential bets throughout all types of sports now drying up. As with most industries through this period of uncertainty, betting, and gambling as a whole, have had to adapt to the current situation in order to stay afloat whilst we wait out the pandemic. Two of the major ways the industry is coping with this blow include the rise in virtual sports and online casinos, with many online searches, including the likes of ‘new online casino‘ increasing as more people take to the internet to play.
Virtual Sports
Whilst many physical sporting events have been either cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19, many sites still offer a variety of different virtual sports for users to bet on, including:
- Football
- Horse racing
- Greyhounds
- Track cycling
- Motor racing
With virtual sports, users can choose from a selection of fixed odds games, with outcomes decided using a random number generator (RNG). All users participating will have the same outcomes from the virtual game/event. Bets are set up by the bookmaker, with outcomes always being decided via an algorithm so that the winner is chosen without bias.
One of the main differences between physical and virtual sports betting, besides the setting, is that virtual events can occur numerous different times throughout the day, offering users more games to choose from.
Whilst virtual sports aren’t quite the same experience as real-life events, with so many cancellations and postponements, these e-games provide an effective way to fill the gap whilst the sporting world waits for COVID-19 to end.
Online Casinos
As betting on sports is a form of gambling, many of the sites offering this will also offer other types of games, including slots, poker, roulette, blackjack and more. This means that whilst sports betting may be a relatively dry area for the industry at present, operators still have users coming to their sites to play online casino games.
In the same way that virtual sports replicates real-life sporting events, online casinos are a type of virtual casino simulating bricks-and-mortar casino houses. Aside from the obvious different of being a virtual space, online casinos also differ from regular casinos in many other ways: offering bonuses (e.g. free spins and no deposit) and varying payment methods. As is the case for many industries at present, COVID-19 has had a considerable impact on gambling operations. However, with the rise of the online world and all the technological advancements its brought, the gambling sector, much like other businesses, is adapting to survive the temporary shut-down to many of its physical attributes.