The year 2020 has been a year of a fight for survival for many industries, business sectors even governments across the world, this is owing to the coronavirus pandemic coupled with months of lockdown that stalled all business activities.
Like every other industry, the Sports Betting industry was also affected by the pandemic, however, the on-ground casinos and betting houses suffered more as people were not able to move out to stake their bets.
The coronavirus pandemic saw a massive move from offline betting to online betting. Also, the long months of lockdown saw numerous people join sports betting and casinos online, all in a move to increase their income even while at home.
At the moment, online gambling has seen a massive increase as they take over from on-the-ground casinos and other betting outlets.
The coronavirus pandemic also saw horse racing and sports events in South Africa been cancelled or postponed indefinitely.
While the traditional gambling industry is yet to get back on its feet, online gambling sites have reported a surge in activity since the national lockdown came into effect on 27 March 2020.
There have been reports of online casinos worldwide reporting a sharp increase in gambling, as lockdown periods are extended and financial stresses intensify, some analysts believe that people may become increasingly hesitant to spend money on non-essential pastimes, such as gambling. There are also concerns about the slow resumption of business at casinos once the lockdown ends.
With the look of things, the future of sports betting in South Africa could be towards moving online all together.
We could see a massive shift from on-the-ground casinos to online. This could also bring about new ways and new technology of staking bets online.
With 2020 already coming to an end, we are very hopeful that 2021 will be very much better.
