The months-long COVID-19 storm that has raged worldwide has left few sectors and industries unaffected. Some businesses shuttered their doors or rushed to draft contingency plans, while others anticipated their digital transformation, building capacity for an as yet uncertain future.
But were there winners in this current turmoil?
Yes and no. Take the gambling industry. Global concerns – of operators, employees and clients – about the coronavirus has led to an 11 per cent drop in forecasted global gambling revenues in 2020, according to industry analysts HT Gambling Capital’s COVID impact tracker. This means that 2020 global gambling gross win has been downgraded from pre-COVID forecasts of $473bn to $421bn, the latter being close to 2016 levels.
With social distancing and curfew rules in place, land-based casinos are bearing the brunt of such financial woes, with emerging markets taking the biggest hit – in fact, China has seen sales fall over 40 per cent year-on-year in January.
Online gambling, however, has seen a spike in traffic. In Australia, for instance, figures released by AlphaBeta and Illion showed online gambling has increased by 67 per cent during COVID-19.
There are two main factors fuelling this increase. The first is that for millions of people on lockdown worldwide, their only window on the world has become the internet – and this, in turn, increases their opportunities to gamble. In the UK, a survey commissioned last month by Clean Up Gambling showed that a quarter of respondents who typically bet at least once a week are still doing so, while 28 per cent had increased their activity.
The second is that the limited operations of land-based casinos, together with the cancellation of most sports fixtures, has pushed gamblers towards online offerings. Such is the shift that HT Gambling Capital’s COVID impact tracker expects the online gambling sector to move from 13.2 per cent to 15.7 per cent share of global gambling revenue.
Some countries decided to take advantage of this, also acknowledging that a young generation of customers are tech-savvy, demand engaging game content, and therefore are prone to push the shift to online – in Europe, for instance, Belarus officially legalised online casinos in the beginning of April, and Russian companies have since began entering the market in the neighbouring country.
Other countries have not been as agile. In the US, 92 per cent of all casinos were closed due to measures taken to combat the pandemic. American Gaming Association president and CEO Bill Miller called for government support, saying how an estimated 616,000 casino gaming employees were not working – with all the social and community problems that brings with it. He also estimated that these mass closures will cost the American economy some $43.5bn in economic activity.
The situation in the US is quite complex, however, as legislation differs from one state to the next. In states such as New Jersey, Nevada, Delaware and Pennsylvania, where online gaming is permitted, operators and providers say they have seen a significant spike in volume and revenue since the pandemic outbreak. Poker sites and online casinos have seen a surge of new users.
The Associated Press reported Robin Chhabra, FOX Bet’s CEO, saying that they have experienced a strong shift to poker and online casino. In New Jersey – where Atlantic City last year saw an increase of nearly 62 per cent over 2018 levels – Golden Nugget said it saw a 20 per cent increase in new player sign-ups.
Other states are following suit. Michigan – which is looking at a deficit of $1.5bn amid the COVID-19 pandemic, has asked government to allow emergency rules to speed up the launch of online gambling.
As with every business – and every game – it is those that are more agile that will adapt more quickly to a new world.
Disclaimer: Gambling can be harmful if not controlled. Please play responsibly. For more information visit https://www.gamcare.org.uk.