The history books have been re-written and in centuries to come there will be talk of how 2020 became crippled by an invisible germ – and not just in the UK, but globally! As Auld Lang Syne rang out at the strike of midnight on January 1, 2020, New Year's resolutions were being made and as ever, there was excitement with the not-knowing of what was to come. But unlike any other year, 2020 was to deliver a devastating blow to millions of people and it came in the form of a deadly disease – COVID-19.
On January 31, two cases of coronavirus were reported and despite the sharp rise in the number of the infected, it wasn't until March 23, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a full lockdown. The UK entered a lockdown with non-essential shops including gyms, pubs, restaurants and betting shops closing their doors for a lengthy period of time. With the closure of just about everything came the ban on sports – from Formula 1 to MMA, snooker to darts, but before the announcement was made, Cheltenham Festival, one the UK's most popular horse racing events, was given the green light by Government officials to go ahead. Coronavirus cases were still on the rise and shortly after the racing event in April, Cheltenham came under fire for going ahead with the race despite racegoers reporting COVID-19 symptoms.
Once the announcement was made to halt all sporting events, the media was awash with coronavirus stories and how it was having a dramatic impact on the gambling industry. Football and horse racing take up 75% of the sports betting market and with both being suspended, it was bound to have an impact on the gambling industry. In 2019, the sports betting market in the UK was estimated to have earned bookmakers some £1.4 billion, and at the time, many top players had warned there would be a dramatic impact on profits this year - and they weren't wrong. GVC Holdings (owner of Ladbrokes etc) announced a 35% drop in profits in April 2020 with Michael Dugher, chief executive of industry body the Betting and Gaming Council adding at the time: "Levels of gambling have plummeted not just because of betting shop closures but because of the absence of sport, which is fundamental to online betting."
Not All Doom and Gloom
Fast forward to August 2020 and despite the ban on sports still very much in effect, one gambling operator made an announcement that really was unexpected. Flutter, the Sky Bet and Paddy Power owner revealed profits were better than they had ever expected as players made the switch from sports betting to online casino games. Flutter's chief executive, Peter Jackson said the impact of the pandemic on sport was "more than offset by an increase in the number of recreational customers playing our poker and gaming products globally, as people sought new forms of home entertainment". Flutter's newly acquired Poker Stars had reported revenue was up 40% in the first half of 2020 (taking them to £697 million) with other statistics showing gaming growth of some 43% with poker revenue up 38% and casino up some 51%.
As a result of the influx in players taking to online gambling, many of which had switched from the UK sports betting industry to global online sports betting sites as listed on online-casinos.com, the UK Government urged the UK Gambling Commission to tackle the risks of problem gambling during the coronavirus outbreak - and that they did. A series of new laws and regulations were brought into effect to ensure player safety was the number one goal for operators, with Nigel Huddleston, Minister for Sport, Tourism and Heritage, saying at the time: "As we stay at home and spend more time online, it is vital that no stone is left unturned in protecting people from gambling related harm. Whilst overall gambling participation has fallen in recent weeks and the industry has made notable contributions to support the national response, we must take proactive steps now, and keep these measures under review. I expect patterns of play to be closely monitored so we can move quickly if there is any evidence of problem gambling increasing. I also want more to be done to promote responsible gambling during the pandemic."
On June 1, the Government announced the news we had all been waiting for – the return of the English Premier League and all other major sporting events, providing certain criteria was followed. Wednesday June 17, Manchester City took to the pitch to see-off competition from Arsenal, but there was to be strictly no fans. The game saw a red card being shown to Arsenal's Luiz in the 49th minute, which resulted in a penalty being scored by De Bruyne, and at the end of the 900-minutes (plus injury time), it was Man City 3, Arsenal 0.
Coronavirus still continues to dominate headlines around the globe to this day and despite some 4,000 fans being re-introduced to football events, there is no saying we won't all see another national lockdown. As 2020 comes to a close, the devolved nations of the UK have announced plans to 'close' all non-essential businesses and sporting events will be hammered once again, what will 2021 bring? More lockdowns and an even bigger impact on the sports betting industry is my bet!
