43 billion dollars – That is the amount of money that wasn’t bet on sports since the coronavirus shut everything down. Restaurants, airlines, hotels and casinos/sportsbooks have felt it the most.
In Colorado, they sports betting became legal in the meantime. Absent was the fanfare and celebration of inaugural sports betting opening days of the past. There was no Governor or famous former professional athlete on-hand to cut the ribbon.
The mobile sportsbook apps are not as affected by travel destination gambling halls. But, there is one catch: There are virtually no sports to bet. Luckily there have been a few UFC events during the shutdown, but the traditional cash-cows like Baseball and Gold are nowhere to be seen.
Employees of the casinos/sportsbook have been gutted by the pandemic. Casey Clark, senior vice president of the American Gaming Association., said “The gaming industry in the U.S. has been disproportionately affected by this. There aren’t any casinos open. So we have seen more than 650,000 people out of work since this started.” But there is hope on the horizon.
Cities are starting to crawl again with activity. Businesses are starting to open. There have already been some smaller betting establishments that have opened their doors:
South Dakota Casinos Starting to ReOpen
Casino in Oklahoma Opens Doors Amidst Pandemic
Below are the exact amount of dollars (per state) that weren’t bet during this pandemic period (February-March only) as per NY Post:
