Gambling Industry Analysts Confident of Speedy Recovery Following Coronavirus-Prompted Losses

Gambling insiders and analysts expect the industry to bounce back in short order following the loss of business brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, per EMERGINGEUROPE.com.

The emergence of said crisis brought the sector to its knees in Europe, as well as across the globe. Physical gambling took a huge hit as a result of the worldwide lockdowns, travel restrictions, and multiple deaths on the continent. Online gambling did not fare much better as sports also shut down, leaving punters with very little to wager on.

While things aren’t back to normal, restrictions have relaxed in several areas, with lots of sporting leagues back in action. Football returned across Europe, with most tiers able to complete their domestic seasons, while the Champions League returned with a bang.

The competition will come to a close this Sunday, with German giants Bayern Munich set for a final showdown with French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain. Bayern is the Bet365 favorites at 1/1; the bookies are offering 9/4 on PSG. Bets without placing a deposit are also very likely to be available for new signups.

Physical gaming houses are reopening in a number of locations. Things are moving well in China, where locals will be allowed to travel to the gambling attraction that is Macau. Zhuhai residents are already able to travel to the island and persons from the other provinces will be permitted access by the end of September.

As it pertains to Europe, casinos and bingo halls will reopen across Scotland on August 24 as long as all goes according to plan.

According to gambling industry intelligence and consultancy firm H2 Gambling Capital, the gross win percentage (total number of bets placed minus total payouts) will fall by 22.3 per cent this year.

Of course, football in Belarus went on as it would normally during the dry months, leaving sportsbooks with a few extra options. But esports proved to be a lifesaver on that front.

“Operators quickly moved to strengthen their esports offerings, some made their esports offering more prominent on their websites and apps, others quickly moved to add esports data feeds to their sites from suppliers,” Eduardo dos Remedios, vice president of Symphony iGaming Solutions, told the aforementioned publication.

“In a similar fashion, operators made their virtual sports offerings more prominent, when in the past they might have been hidden lower down on their website navigation, they now put them front and centre.”

The esports arena did get affected and there were a number of cancelled tournaments but the blow was not as significant as the one felt in the conventional sporting world. As it turns out, here are events taking place at the moment, with the Dota 2 Omega League running up until September 7.

Teams Alliance and 5Men will face off in said competition on Saturday and some of the biggest UK online bookmakers have odds on offer.

Alliance are the favourites with Betfair at 3/10 while 5Men are 11/5. Paddy Power are offering 1/14 on Team Secret, who are set to go up against Vikin gg (11/2). Meanwhile, Ninjas in Pyjamas are 11/5 to beat 3/10 favourites Flytomoon.

There’s also some betting action to be had on CounterStrike: Global Offensive. The ESL One Cologne – Oceania throws up Renegades vs. Chief Esports Club on Tuesday; the former are favoured at 1/12 by Bet365, who have 6/1 going on the latter. The bookmakers have 4/9 on ORDER for their match against the 13/8 Avant Gaming set for Wednesday.