The two-month corona-related quarantine measures and the absence of sporting events hit the casinos and betting providers hard. According to a current study by the market research institute “Industry Radar”, gross gaming revenue from games of chance and sports betting is expected to shrink by 16 percent in comparison to the previous year.
In sports betting, gross revenue is forecast to fall by around 45 percent or around EUR 145 million. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, all sports events relevant to betting have been canceled and leagues have been suspended. Even if some football leagues are played before the summer and Formula 1 starts the new season before the summer, the situation should only “improve substantially” again in the autumn.
An enormous increase in online gambling
Many arcade operators, casinos, and lotto outlets were closed (and still are closed) for weeks. Essentially, online gambling sites (judi bola) benefited from this. Unfortunately, the increase in online gambling cannot be measured in terms of concrete sales because the providers of illegal online casino games are mostly done at home abroad. But the advertising for it has increased enormously.
Gamekeeper: Players choose different ways
An increasing turn towards digital game forms is not a new phenomenon, but an expression of social development. The special situation Corona certainly promoted this, but it did not lead to the fact that players, one by one, migrated to the net for lack of opportunity. Rather, they observe different developments. Once in the arcade area, there is a whole group of people who are amazed to find that they can get along quite well without an arcade and have made the decision to do it beyond the time of closure. These are often those who had already thought about restricting or stopping playing. And then there is another group that feverishly waits for the halls to open again and others that go online.
A special way of gambling
In other European countries, such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, or Spain, the authorities have reacted and reduced the opportunities to advertise online gambling with the exit restrictions. In Spain, where a new gaming law is due to be passed in the fall, advertising times are being reduced to the night hours.
The structure of online casino games is often similar to that of classic slot machines, as can also be found in many game stores. Here and there is betting and the rest of the action is left to chance. While online gambling had been widely advertised. The government comes in between by restricting these advertisements as part of the effort to protect people from gambling addiction.