Return to sports

“Goal! The crowd goes wild as Mo Salah slots home Liverpool’s second!” It’s a phrase we’re not likely to hear anytime soon – even when English Premier League football returns from its coronavirus pandemic-enforced absence. As the comeback of the German Bundesliga showed us earlier this summer, football played behind closed doors has a distinctly different feel to it. The same applies for other sports that, at press time, have either resumed or are planning their resumptions: UFC, NASCAR, MLB and golf being notable case studies.

From a betting perspective, this does make a difference. A lack of atmosphere makes for reduced viewing, which impacts wagering levels. But the continuation of sport in a reduced form is a necessary step towards an overall return – and ultimately far better than no major sports to bet on at all. This is the situation facing sportsbooks across the world today, who have gone from thriving betting volumes to barely any at all, and now they find themselves somewhere in the middle.

Mid-May marked the beginning of the sporting calendar’s revival, as UFC action returned in the US, followed by NASCAR, while Bundesliga football resumed in Europe. In the short term, Rush Street Interactive saw its sports wagering handle for a single weekend double that of any other weekend during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Kindred Group also seeing a doubling of turnover. Speaking to Gambling Insider in light of the Bundesliga’s return following the first weekend of action, a Kindred spokesperson commented: “The first major league in football returning was a welcomed contribution to making the situation we all find ourselves in more

‘normal’. We could see the wish for betting on live football was longed for and an example of this was that the turnover across the weekend more than doubled compared to the weekend before.”

That same day, however, a Betway spokeperson offered Gambling Insider a cautious appraisal. They said: “Betway punters welcomed the return of the Bundesliga and it was evident they were crying out for football from a league where players were more recognisable. Although most recreational punters prefer a wider spread of leagues and additions of other sports, particularly horseracing, to make up the perfect Saturday, and that looks a little way off yet.”

It’s this type of ‘half-way house’ scenario operators and suppliers must become accustomed to, at least in the short term. Prior to athletes gracing their pitches and racetracks in a limited capacity, sportsbooks had to rely on table tennis betting (with the sport still constant throughout the pandemic), football in Belarus and Nicaragua, and occasional FIFA tournaments involving professional footballers as their best sources of pure sporting activity. The other option, of course, was to turn away from sports betting and utilise alternative verticals possessing overlapping qualities with traditional sports. Esports, virtual sports and perhaps poker were the biggest candidates. (Casino and slots, for instance, are different functions altogether to sportsbook.)

But as our esports-focused feature on page 50 explores, there’s a debate as to how high esports betting revenues will remain once major sport is back for good. The same could be said of virtual sport, even if markets like Italy have become very virtual-centric over the years. For the traditional sports bettor, volumes will not alter too dramatically

until the Premier League, Grand Slam tennis and the like continue, as well as NBA, NHL and NFL in the US.

This very topic was explored during a sports betting panel at AffiliateCon Virtually Live, as Alex Donohue, director of Pressbox PR, discussed a lack of longevity for niche offerings. He said: “If you’re a Premier League fan, most of the bets you place will be around the teams and players you know and love. While there will be some novelty on having a bet on Belarusian football, one of the misconceptions from people outside our industry is gamblers have switched uniformly from betting on the Premier League to some of this obscure sport. One of the problems you have is overkill of these niche offerings and an opportunity for fatigue to set in with the customer base. While you might have a bet on the first night because it’s interesting and new, that could wear off quite quickly.”

Fellow panellist, Betsson Group SEO marketing owner Warren Sammut, agreed that a lack of familiarity means traditional football leagues will not be displaced. Sammut explained: “I think to be following a sport you need to be invested to a certain extent, which can take months if not years. The new offerings helped [during the lull] because it created something new and something exciting to follow. But I think the return of major league sports is very high on the agenda and there’s a lot of appetite for these sports to come back.”

Horseracing, too, is on the road to recovery, though any famous meetings on the calendar both this year and next may be subject to the same eerie silence as empty football stadia. It’s once again a case of rejoicing at a watered down version of the sport, rather than having no action at all. Early signs across all sports point towards bettors returning to their favourite sportsbooks as major leagues restart. The higher the number of returning sports, the higher the number of returning bettors.

Naturally, however, the sporting calendar has already suffered some irreversible short-term blows, with the Olympics and European Football Championships postponed until 2021. High-level tennis doesn’t appear to be ending its hiatus either, while certain football leagues have already been suspended for the season. A prime example is France’s Ligue 1, with champions Paris Saint-Germain a regular fixture in the casual punter’s weekend accumulator, containing heavy favourites across European football.

But there’s hope that major leagues in England, Spain and Italy will be back soon, with Germany already offering the football betting industry a framework to build upon. Many other sports, too, are in different stages of a gradual reopening. Like the overall sporting experience, sports betting firms will have to cope with a new normal. Reflecting on projections of the biggest betting summer ever, chiefly thanks to the Euros, is not something executives will enjoy doing while cursing their luck. Yet steps – baby steps – are in place for a staggered return, and reflecting on a period when no major sport was on the horizon at all, the current situation is one the industry can willingly embrace with open arms.