Covid-19 restrictions have left many commercial sectors in the emerging European region, and indeed, around the world, with reduced revenue, as locks imposed strict limits on the type of business that can be opened to customers.
While the hotel industry was the hardest hit, the game was also severely affected by the closure of department stores and casinos across Europe from March to May, and due to the cancellation of many sporting events, leaving players with little on what they can bet on. a bet.
With restrictions now relaxed, though not completely removed, and after the resumption of sporting events, analysts and industry connoisseurs expect to see an immediate return to the general with a full recovery that will continue next year.
“Measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 were in place in the region and left operators and distributors facing a wonderful challenge and a significant drop in revenue and revenue,” Dario Jur-i, CEO of NSoft, a Bosnian-based gaming software company, said Emerging Europe.
According to H2 Gambling Capital, a gambling and intelligence consultant, gross profits in Europe are expected to fall by 22.3% by 2020. Gross winnings, in the language of the gaming industry, refer to the total number of bets placed minus costs. and payments.
Eduardo dos Remedios, vice president of Symphony iGaming Solutions, confirms that Covid-19’s good luck has had an effect around the world.
“The effects have been felt through operators in most, if at all, their geographic locations,” he says.
Unsurprisingly, it is the sports betting industry that has been most affected by cancellations, leaving bookmakers with nothing to offer their customers.
“Those who, before Covid-19, depended on a significant percentage of sports revenue were greatly affected when the occasions stopped organizing,” Dos Remedios told Emerging Europe.
While some have turned to Belarus, where the football league has proceeded as if the pandemic was not at all, many operators have turned to e-sports and virtual sports to compensate for the losses of the classic sporting aspect of their business. . Training
“Operators temporarily made a decision about their eSports offerings, some made their eSports offerings more prominent on their Internet sites and applications, others temporarily made the decision to upload eSports knowledge flows to their sites from vendors. Similarly, operators have advanced their virtual sports offers, while in the afterlife they may have been hidden further down in the navigation of their website, now they place them in the foreground,” explains Mr. dos Remedios.
One trend that Covid-19 has obviously highlighted is that online gambling is gaining momentum compared to classic visits to department stores and casinos.
“This trend is reflected in Poland’s tax revenue from gambling-related activities. Overall tax revenues from gambling in the country fell by 21% in the current quarter, and land casino tax fell by 52%. However, the government-owned online services tax The casino provider has doubled year after year and this is a trend we have noticed across the region,” said Luke Eales, CEO of TopRatedCasino, a gambling marketing partner.
Projections through H2 Gambling Capital show that the Covid-19 epidemic, the percentage of gross profits from the online channel increased significantly.
“One smart thing that emerges from this scenario is that more and more operators have turned to online channels and digitization. The online segment has even noticed an expansion to it was last year,” says Jur-i.
However, Mr. dos Remedios is skeptical about how this increase in interest in online gambling can make up for all that has been lost in the sports industry with the closure of land headquarters and the cancellation of sporting events.
“Overall, I would expect revenue from online gaming to decline from mid-March to the end of the year until the same time last year,” he says.
In the casino box, which basically includes slot games and games like poker, online channels may have helped operators, depending on their ability to advertise the online look of their business.
“Certainly, those who had the opportunity to increase the promotion of their online offerings would have mitigated the decline in revenue. I would have the individual operator to see how well they have controlled to mitigate the decline on the ground side,” explains Dos Remedios.
Eales points out that there have been wide adjustments to customer behavior across all product categories this year, however, it is too early to say that the online penetration point will remain strong as the pandemic declines.
“Many seem convinced that the last few months have accelerated existing online adoption trends, and with the uncertainty that persists around the person and gambling, we expect the online sector to crystallize a significant proportion of those gains, with their opposing land numbers spending. Explains.
With regard to the recovery, Mr. Jur-io said they saw his earnings increase in June and that in July they returned more frequently to the levels of previous years.
However, it warns that the risk is still there and that the industry rules out the option of additional measures opposed to coronaviruses that can further disrupt gaming markets.
“With the return of the game and especially football, we have noticed signs of improvement, but in the short and medium term we have a roof for this recovery, as many gambling occasions are still canceled,” Eales said.
H2 Gaming Capital’s global gross profit projections show that the gaming industry can expect a V-shaped recovery with revenue that will accumulate in 2021 and continue to grow in the future.
“My non-public opinion is that it’s most likely a U-shape than V’s. While the decline in revenue for gaming operators is due to a failure in their trading style and can be attributed to the Covid-19 effect, no one knows for sure how long the recession we are witnessing will last,” warns Mr dos Remedios.
However, it is also positive in its advice to operators and casinos about the things that count on them, such as visitor satisfaction and quality of service.
While emerging European countries have begun taking action against coronaviruses in the past two months, retail ground betting outlets have also opened their doors and some sporting events and leagues are now resuming. As the game is a popular pastime in Central and Eastern Europe, unless there are new locks, the gaming industry will slowly return to normal.
“Looking further, we think that the online casino sector in Central and Eastern Europe will continue to grow and this will lead to more options possible for players as new brands emerge,” concludes Mr. Eales.
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