UK Records Spike in Gambling Despite Covid19

The novel Coronavirus has thrown the world into disarray and, now that lockdown has affected the planet in one way or another for a good few months, let’s take a look at how it has affected gambling in more detail.

 Online Entertainment

According to research company Savanta, now that more people are spending a lot of their time at home, it has changed how people engage with entertainment. Based on the most recent data available as of 18 June, “those who had gambled in the past four weeks were more likely than the national average to have done the following in the last two weeks:

• Spent more online on entertainment (17% of gamblers compared to 13% of all adults)
• Watched TV more often (50% of gamblers compared to 42% of all adults)
• Consumed more on-demand entertainment (48% of gamblers compared to 40% of all adults)

While there is a steady progression as live events start taking place again, like top-flight football through German Bundesliga, more players continue to play it safe and place bets from the comfort and security of their homes.

 New Player Acquisition

It may be too early to tell what the real numbers are due to only 0.4% of adults stating that they had started gambling in one form or another during the previous 4 weeks. By comparison, 2.1% of adults stopped gambling altogether since the start of lockdown.

Operator data on new player accounts recognize a 1.2% decrease between April and May 2020 across all verticals, except for live events which saw an increase, mainly due to Bundesliga returning to the scene in mid-May.

 Old Dog, New Tricks

Online casino vendors may not have seen an increase in new player figures; however, their existing players have been testing out new games.

According to the report:

Our analysis shows that 88% of sessions are single activity sessions, which indicates that consumers do not tend to engage in multiple activities within a single session, but are more likely to engage in multiple activities across the month (within separate, individual sessions).

The operator figures indicate that, while their customers do return to the games they know and love, every now and then they explore a new vertical.

 It’s a Wrap

The pandemic has highlighted a need for each person to consider where and how they manage their daily lives. Given how much has changed in such a short time, the task of finding innovative ways to work and play has only just begun.

While it may take a while for live format gambling to get back to the way things used to be, online vendors are making the best of a bad situation and reaping the rewards.