How Will Betting & Results Be Affected By Sports Behind Closed Doors?
Everyone knows how serious the current state of affairs are. No one sensible is encouraging a return of sport if it will put anyone’s life in danger or risk the further spreading of illness. Yet at the same time, all of the various sports have a responsibility to think about how they will get back underway at some point in the near future. Football faces this issue more urgently than most.
It’s where Project Restart has come from, with clubs desperate to get back to playing as soon as it is safe to do so. The money that clubs stand to lose if they don’t is significant, which is why there’s such a desire from most to resume playing, even if it’s behind closed doors. If that’s how it’s going to be, though, what sort of a difference will that make to the world of betting?
Bookies Will Expect A Bump Initially
Right now, there is very little live sport for people to bet on. Those that are firm critics of the betting industry will see that as a good thing, but whether you like it or hate it, the betting industry is a vital one for many different people’s livelihoods. There are also countless people who enjoy having a flutter in an entirely harmless way and who will have been missing being able to do so.
It’s why the betting industry would be right to expect an initial bump when sport eventually does return, both from regular bettors that are happy to be able to return to action and from others simply giddy at being able to watch something they’ve missed for so long. Whichever camp people fall into, they will almost certainly be keep to place bets on football, tennis, horse racing and so on when they can.
There’s also the fact that people not being at the various sporting venues will mean that they’re more able to place a bet than usual. Anyone that has been anywhere where there is a large group of people will know that it’s very difficult to use a phone in any capacity, so betting becomes almost impossible. That will not be true when people are watching things unfold at home instead.
The Question Is: Will It Last?
Obviously the key question that the bookmakers will be asking themselves at this point is whether or not that bump will continue once the initial excitement is over. The answer to that really depends on what for the new sporting world takes on. It will not alter many people’s betting patterns if the likes of horse and greyhound racing returns without a crowd, for example, but what about football?
There’s a reason why Sky Sports and BT Sport are rumoured to be considering giving people the option to listen to fake crowd noises when football returns to our televisions, whenever that may be. It will be unnatural to watch football without crowds cheering and making their feelings known, so will people stick around to see what happens in matches they don’t care about?
That will be the key question for bookies as they hope to return to some semblance of normality in the coming weeks and months. There will undoubtedly be an initial interest and they’ll get a bump from that, but maintaining that interest will be beyond the control of the bookmakers themselves. If people don’t like the absence of crowds, there’s not much they’ll be able to do.
Will It Influence Results?
Football is a sport that finds its peaks and troughs dictated by the reaction of the crowd. There’s a reason many in the game consider Anfield to be such a difficult place to go for a big game, as evidenced by Liverpool’s comeback from 3-0 down against Barcelona in last season’s Champions League semi-final. Would that have happened had the ground been empty? It’s doubtful.
At the time of writing, we have no idea whether football will take place at neutral venues or at the various clubs’ home grounds but just without a crowd. The former seems the most likely, given the fear that supporters may still congregate at the stadiums even if they know that they won’t be able to get inside to see the games playing out in real time.
Regardless of which option the footballing powers opt for, the simply fact is that there won’t be a crowd present. That means that supporters will not be able to influence referees, players can’t be given a boost from fans or be intimidated by the noise from those supporting the opposition. All of which means that some results will not be what they would have been if the season had played out as normal.
That is another criteria that bettors will have to add to the list of things that they think about ahead of placing a wager. Just as it is relevant which players are fit, which have had a new baby and might be distracted thinking about that and which ones will have an eye on earning a transfer, so too will punters need to consider which clubs will react better to having no supporters in the ground.
A Cyclical Effect With Advertising
Betting companies will have taken a massive hit during this period of no sport. The Premier League, as an example, can make up to as much as 70% of a gambling company’s sports betting income. Whilst some of that will have been made up by people turning to different things like eSports and virtual sports, most people will simply not have placed many bets for the past few months.
As a result, there has been less advertising by betting companies recently. Indeed, the Betting & Gaming Council said in April that its members would stop advertising on TV and radio for at least six weeks. The lack of advertising will have reduced the number of people placing bets on the events that are still available to bet on, which will have in turn reduced income.
That will result in a vicious circle, with less advertising meaning less betting, meaning less income meaning less advertising. The drop in income will also likely mean a drop in sponsorship, which will hit some football clubs hard at a time when their income is already going to have been badly affected. Don’t forget, half of all Premier League clubs had betting sponsors at the start of last season.
