Online Betting: A Thriving Industry Despite the Pandemic

Many industries were greatly affected by the pandemic that remains to be the problem of many countries. The threat of the 2019 Coronavirus has taken its toll on the economy of many countries since March. This was when the virus became prominent in many areas and when the World Health Organization declared it as a pandemic.

Many businesses, big or small, had to temporarily close because of this. Some businesses even really had to cease their operations for good because they found it necessary to ensure everyone’s safety. Everyone was forced to stay home and this is why only a few industries remained in good shape during this whole period.

One of these few industries that are thriving during this time of pandemic is the online betting sector. Even since before the pandemic and lockdowns took place, this industry has been rapidly growing.

Mobile betting, in particular, has made betting easier to access and this is why more and more people are visiting online casinos and placing bets online. Punters always searching bookmaker for them to place safe betting; sites like Silentbet.com helps them to check popular bookmaker’s reviews that create chances for their winning.

People have been trying to find ways to remain entertained while they are at home and they would resort to playing online casino games and even placing wagers on sports and real events. After all, there still were minor sports events that pushed through despite the pandemic and sportsbooks found ways to stay in business even without the major sports leagues.

Sports betting has always been one of the favourite ways of people to gamble. Even if many major sports events worldwide were cancelled, frequent gamblers still found ways to uplift their spirits with their favourite pastime.

Reports were made that registration on online betting sites or online casino sites spiked in March. This can be because the major sports leagues were already getting postponed and cancelled at that point and people had to find another outlet when it came to their betting hobby.

It’s only the online betting sector that experienced a spike of traffic during this period because it was also in March when land-based casinos and sportsbooks were forced to temporarily close their doors to help contain the virus.

eSports Gaining Traction During Pandemic

Aside from online casino gaming, eSports have also started to gain more attention during this period. Sportsbooks had to find more odds to offer to their customers while many sports league took their breaks.

This is why they turned heads towards eSports, which was something that has been slowly happening even before the pandemic. We can say that eSports have gained sudden attention because it’s something that can still be done despite the lockdowns worldwide.

In 2019, eSports viewership was already at around 454 million and it has a CAGR of 9 percent. It is expected that eSports viewership will be at over 645 million by 2023.

Quentin Martin, the CEO of Luckbox, an eSports gambling site, spoke about their experience in the last few months. He said, “All of our key performance indicators have been through the roof in the past three months. Turnover has risen to almost 13 times that seen in November 2019, while deposits are up 10x since then. The uptick is across the board and globally. As well as an increase in registrations, we’ve noticed an increase in average bet size, almost double since February.”

Martin also said this may really have something to do with the pandemic.

He said, “Clearly, these are challenging times for many people across the world but, for many, eSports and gaming are a welcome distraction. As well as an increase in customers and betting activity, we’ve seen a huge level of interest from potential investors, who are realising that eSports is resilient to many of the forces that affect traditional sports, not least COVID-19 and a potential recession.”

He continued, “Undoubtedly, the lack of traditional sports has prompted more fans to consider eSports and it’s realistic to expect that, when sports eventually return, a lot of those fans will go back to the games they know best. However, the potential of eSports betting is well documented and these past few months have brought that into sharper focus, accelerating the numbers. I think the growth level won’t sustain, but the uplift will. A lot of fans of traditional sports have been exposed to the excitement of eSports for the first time and, hopefully, they like what they see and will be sticking around.”

Overall, online betting covers online casino gaming, sports betting, and eSports betting. With all these three around, it’s easy to see why online betting is an industry that will continue to grow in the next few years. However, the challenge may be a bit tougher for eSports as traditional sports events make their way back to the scene. Sports betting activities will rise once again.

Based on the UKGC report that was recently released, other online gambling activities appear to have dropped now that sports betting is back once again. We’ll still have to see what happens next as more sports events come back.