The World of Sports Betting in a World Without Sports
The novel coronavirus shut down major sports worldwide and, in the process, crushed the sports-gambling industry.
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00:00Sports gambling is a billion dollar industry growing at an accelerated pace as states pass
00:08legislation and leagues partner with sportsbooks, but this is another industry that has taken
00:13a hit amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
00:15Joining me now is SI's Greg Bishop.
00:17Greg, what are some of the tangible effects you've seen on this industry?
00:21I think the biggest thing is that it really just sort of grounds sports gambling to a
00:25halt.
00:26I mean, this is an industry that not only is a multi-billion dollar business, but it
00:29was really poised for a moment.
00:31You have states across the country that are legalizing sports betting, that are introducing
00:35mobile apps, that are really allowing people to gamble and collecting the tax revenue for
00:40it.
00:41And what you've seen are, you know, a huge dip in the numbers.
00:44There aren't sports to bet on.
00:47There aren't many bets to make.
00:48You know, you'll see a spike for something like the NFL draft, but, you know, essentially
00:53what happened is they had to close casinos, they had to close books.
00:56And, you know, the industry, like so many other industries, has basically ground to
01:00a halt.
01:01For the regulars in this industry, what have they pivoted to in a gambling space?
01:07It's funny, like the professional sports bettors might not do as much of these kind of bets,
01:11but people that are looking for a fix or that are interested in continuing to gamble have
01:15found some truly interesting things to bet on.
01:19You know, you're looking at people who have been betting on Top Chef, who would go home
01:22this week.
01:24in terms of what's the high in Las Vegas for today, and you bet the over-under.
01:28I talked to a guy who works for a book that's international, and he has been offering simulated
01:34Madden video games that people have been betting on, where the action unfolds based on rankings
01:40and computer simulation models.
01:42And, you know, I guess it's just proof that even when there are no sports, people that
01:45bet on sports will still find something to gamble on.
01:49Now, when sports do inevitably come back, obviously sports books will reopen.
01:54Do you see, as you've been exploring this industry, it kind of resurging to the point
01:59that it was before this pandemic?
02:01Yeah, I think so.
02:02And I think part of that is that you're seeing it get legalized in so many different places.
02:06And to me, I think that the pandemic will actually aid in that process.
02:10I think when you're looking at states coming back from the loss they've had in revenue,
02:14from the business hits that they have taken, I think that states that may have been on
02:18the fence before or may have been considering legalizing sports betting are now more likely
02:23to legalize sports betting, in particular, just to collect the tax revenue.
02:28And so I think the moment that was upon the industry will come back.
02:32And I think it might be even more pronounced than it was supposed to be, you know, before
02:35all this started.
02:36S.I., it's Greg Bishop.
02:39Thanks so much for the insight.
02:40Thank you for having me.