How The Pandemic Put Virtual Sports On The Map
It goes without saying that the pandemic caused by COVID-19 had major effects on virtually everyone. While the people had to adapt to the changes brought on by the pandemic, businesses had to find a way to operate amidst global lockdowns.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of businesses lost customers and consequently suffered a big decline in revenue. However, in the middle of all the chaos, the virtual sports betting industry experienced a major boom in popularity and managed to thrive.
The Effect COVID-19 Had on Sports
Apart from somewhat mandatory curfew and lockdowns, social distancing was one of the best preventive measures against COVID-19. The biggest disadvantage of that is that traveling was made significantly more difficult. In some countries, it was even impossible due to the restrictions imposed by governments.
For the world of sports, this translated to no games, matches, races, or anything of the sort. In fact, for the first time in the history of the modern-day Olympics, the event had to be canceled and postponed until a year later.
Furthermore, a similar thing happened to the UEFA EURO Championship, NBA, Monaco Grand Prix, and sports leagues all over the world.
The Rise of Virtual Sports
With sports games postponed or canceled until further notice, bookmakers had little to show for. The number of betting markets plummeted, and bookmakers were losing revenue faster than ever. To compensate for the lack of betting opportunities, numerous bookmakers relied on virtual sports.
Virtual sports have been around for a while, and bookmakers allowed the bettors to place bets on virtual soccer and virtual racing. However, the feature wasn’t as popular, considering the players could simply bet on the real deal.
As is the case with other online casino games, virtual sports games are powered by software. Each program has a set of rules to follow, so the results are generated randomly, giving the players a fair chance to win.
In addition, the outcome of the games is determined by an algorithm that uses a variety of computer-generated events to ensure games are fun and exciting.
Advantages of Virtual Sports over Real-Life Sports
The biggest benefit of virtual sports over real-life sports is that the games are always available. Instead of having to wait for the games to start, virtual sports games are ready in a matter of minutes. In addition, the games last only a few minutes at best, so the players get to find the outcome of a match shortly after betting.
The second advantage of virtual sports is that operators can add a wide array of betting markets. This includes new games being added on the regular, new types of bets, and much more.
Another good thing about virtual betting is that it requires a lot less knowledge of the game to make a bet. For example, in soccer, you have to consider players’ mentality, fitness, home advantage, and a ton of other factors. With virtual betting, you are simply offered a profile of different teams or participants, so it takes significantly less skill and information to land a bet.
The Bottom Line
There’s no denying the fact that virtual sports have become more popular than ever during the pandemic. Apart from the ones we mentioned, there are many other reasons why more and more players are giving virtual sports betting a try.
However, while virtual sports can be fun and exciting, they are unlikely to replace the real deal any time soon. After all, as frustrating as it can be at times, we all enjoy the love-hate relationship we have with our favorite teams or players we bet on.
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