By Mitch Lohmeier
Before the current pandemic, we had a world of constant sports and betting lines. Gamblers ranging from 18 year olds cashing in their first check, to 75 year olds hanging on by a thread with their retirement money had endless opportunities to live a degenerate lifestyle. Although a degenerate lifestyle may be looked down upon by those who don’t gamble, I say those can “earn” that lifestyle because if you’re winning, might as well do it right? If you can make profit from it, then yes one should go on with a full head of steam with betting. However, so few rarely achieve the status of a “good gambler”, and now with COVID-19 shutting down most sports, the chances for someone to succeed in gambling have diminished. Gamblers know this too, yet statistics show the Sports Betting market only continues to rise.
Why during a time where the United States economy is on the biggest decline in years, is the Sports Betting market surging during a time with barely any sports? To tackle this, it’s important to look at the basics of a gambling addiction, the creation of a degenerate. Often the start to an addiction will arise because of underlying issues like anxiety and stress. With the threat of COVID-19 looming every time someone takes a step outside, anxiety and stress levels are at an all time high. To add on to that, even if people aren’t afraid of the physical implications that COVID-19 is causing, the financial losses can come out of nowhere just like a blackjack dealer flipping an ace and a face card.
With the combination of those worried about catching the virus, and those losing their jobs, gambling has become an answer. Sports come in a limited fashion at the moment, so how do people that want to gamble, gamble now? Well much like the many other industries in the world that have left their traditional, offline ways in the past, online gambling has skyrocketed.
As Nevada offline sportsbooks lost 96% of revenue in March 2020 when compared to February 2020 and March 2019, online sportsbook DraftKings stock has raised 82%, and other online sportsbook Penn National Gaming has seen their stock rise 130%. Gamblers always find a way. Traditional casinos can’t do anything with the pandemic forcing them to close, and now face a very real problem: what do they offer that online casinos don’t? If this pandemic happened a couple years ago before the Supreme Court approved of sports betting, this wouldn’t even be a conversation. People now can place a bet at three o’clock in the morning on a random Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) game or Esports game, and degenerates couldn’t be happier. For those that want an instant adrenaline rush, they can turn to betting on sports like the KBL and Esports online, something COVID-19 can’t perpetrate.
The number’s don’t lie either, as the Esports global gambling revenue is set to double to US $14 billion in 2020, thanks to 36% of gamblers placing a bet on competitive gaming in the last three months. The most interesting part of that statistic? 30% of those betting on competitive gaming have only started to do so in the past month. COVID-19 can’t stop the lives of gamblers, there’s just no way. Top sports taken away? No television coverage? No problem, a gambler will load up a stream of a competitive video game.
This brings me back to my “good gambler” concept. People will turn to these unfamiliar sports that only have a few, if any, gambling experts, and will lose. It will happen, it’s inevitable. So for the title of this article, “Where has COVID-19 Left Gamblers and Sports Betting Companies,” well there’s a couple answers. For degenerates, they remain strong and standing, nothing will bring them down. While they may lose money, well actually no, they are definitely going to lose money, they still have something to fill their gambling needs during this pandemic. Although this won’t bode well for gamblers, this is why we see sports betting companies surge while the overall economy falls. They will gladly take the money of those wanting to double down on an 11, or praying for the over of a KBO game. A true consumer and producer comparison, where the consumer remains satisfied, but the producer reaps many more benefits.
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