Under pressure from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Belarusian championship may not last long, but basketball in Taiwan and Tajikistan, for example, are going strong and have increased by approximately 2,000% at Tabcorp, Australia's leading betting company. But a ball is not always necessary to generate interest from bettors.
Customers of several gambling sites were faced with a shortage of games with the option of risking money in the US elections, in the Nobel Peace Prize or in the Time Person of the Year. In Brazil, the “BBB” (Big Brother) and eSports championships dominate most of the online houses.
A frequent visitor to these sites when it comes to football, Thiago Machado, from Salvador, resisted until all major championships were suspended. He finally chose alternative competitions like dog racing.
“I started looking at other sports, like tennis and greyhound racing (a canine breed). We resisted until everything was suspended. I miss it a lot,” says the 24-year-old foreign trade analyst.
Sports betting sites reserve dangers for potential gamblers who fail to take the game responsibly, which can lead to personal, social, financial and even health problems.
The websites themselves develop programs and technologies so that this does not happen, such as limiting deposits, informative help. For experts, the lack of sport can cause many to venture into areas they do not dominate, and for some, this can represent losses and headaches.
“I saw that bets are going on in video game championships and ‘BBB’, but I was a little unsure of investing. The site still offers betting options on games of chance and on the dollar rate, for example, but I don't like to bet on what I don't understand much,” said Thiago.
Partnership with football
Europe today has the largest online betting market, and it is estimated that it will move 25 billion euros in 2020. In Brazil, according to projections by the Ministry of Economy, the sector has the potential to move up to R$ 6 billion (US$ 1.17bn) per year from specific regulations.
In the Serie A of the Brazilian Championship last year, most clubs had some kind of partnership or sponsorship from bookmakers. In the English Premier League, the richest in the world, half of the teams in the current season have a betting site occupying the main advertising space of the jersey.
The Brazilian website “Casa de Apostas” has football as its flagship, and both the stoppage of competitions and the economic crisis represent losses for the company.
“It is very difficult to measure when there is not even a forecast of normal return from activities. As for the active audience, we understand that it is not the time to intensify the stimulus to entertainment, despite considering it necessary,” says Hans Schleier, who keeps his employees working from home.
In an attempt to innovate, some foreign platforms even allow betting on situations of dubious taste, such as the expansion of COVID-19 and how countries will deal with the disease.
UK-based Betfair offered its customers betting options involving the health status of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was admitted to the ICU with coronavirus last week.
The company removed bets from the website as "next conservative leader" and "next prime minister" after the worsening of the politician, who has already left intensive treatment.
Bets awaiting regulation in Brazil
Fixed odds betting was legalized in Brazil in 2018, and is considered a sports lottery. This is the category in which the player knows the moment he invests the money how much he can win if he gets it right. However, it still depends on regulation.
Most online sports betting sites are hosted in foreign countries, and do not violate local law. A study by the University of Sorbonne shows that there are more than 8,000 sports betting sites worldwide. It is estimated that at least 500 of them offer Brazilian games, operating in the country without any taxation, regulation or control.
The federal government has plans to regulate the sports betting sector later this year. A public consultation was initiated with entities interested in the topic, but the project is currently stalled.
Source: Giulia Costa e Marcello Neves - O Globo
