Online Sports Betting Industry Surprisingly Benefits From Covid-19 Pandemic

Published: 19/05/2020

Reading Time: 3 Min

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The sports betting industry continues to get revenues despite the covid-19 pandemic. Indiana sportsbook reported revenue of about one billion dollars in the last six months, including cash-ins of known companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Pandora.

The cancellation of events and the suspension of the NBA season started since the pandemic began. All major sports events in all parts of the globe were paralyzed in fear of the COVID-19 pandemic. Closure of other gambling venues like casinos followed the cancellation of the sports events.

Sports betting scores millions despite COVID threat

Despite the pandemic effect, Indiana boolies still scored $74 million in March and $26.3 million in April. Johnny Avello, director of sports and race operations for DraftKings, was surprised by the volume the industry has brought.

DraftKings is among the six licensed sportsbooks in Indiana. With the closure of major events, gamblers started placing their bets on other games like darts and table tennis. The events drove the figures to millions of dollars.

Ron Shell, vice president of customer and insights for PointsBet, said that over 50 percent of their bets came from table tennis. PointsBet is a Hoosier state-licensed sportsbook. The sportsbooks use apps equipped with geo-tracking softwares to ensure the legality of the bets.

Online sports betting is a fast-growing business projected to bring sports betting to a higher level. Mr. Shell said that they could track where customers usually sign up from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky.

Mr. Avello is an experienced sports booker who has worked in the industry for 35 years. He sees Indiana as one of the top markets for sports betting. He expressed their surprise at the type of business that’s driving the trend in Indiana. He added that high performers are in the state when compared against others.

Sports betting allowed in 18 states

The decision of the US Supreme Court to lift the ban on sports betting pave the way for states to legalize sports betting operations. After the list, 18 states allowed sports betting, and five others followed. Last September, Indian started allowing sportsbooks to operate as its lawmakers hope to accumulate $99 million in revenue within a year.

In just two months, sports betting turned over $126 million, all coming from operations of six sportsbooks and 14 casinos.

Regulators recorded additional 131 applications for sports betting, including big names like Facebook, Pandora, Twitter, and the Indianapolis Star. Foreign investors are also lining up to join the vast sports betting market of the state. Mr.Shell said that there’s just so much pent-up demand since Vegas was the only place that people could place their bets.

Australia’s Points Bet started operating four years ago, and it now operates in ten US states. According to Mr. Shell, Indiana has a passion for sports. He added that everyone’s coming out of the woodwork to bet, and the sports gambling industry is going to have massive growth for at least the next ten years.

Blake Huelsman, a counselor at the Center for Addiction Treatment in Cincinnati, warned that sports betting is a slowly growing addiction and disorder that we were not aware of or that we didn’t have as much research on even a decade ago.