How much did Gambling lose during the lockdown period?

The emergency measures adopted during the lockdown have pervaded the production chain and led to the closure of activities that are fundamental to the economic system. Gambling is obviously one of these activities.

As is known, physical gaming has experienced two phases of shutdown: at the end of February, the closure of gaming halls and all places of possible gathering was arranged, in what was called the "Red Zone", including Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna, initially most affected by the pandemic. From March 10, however, the emergency measures became national and therefore included the entire national territory. Physical gaming experienced the largest lockdown in its history, also fueled by the suspension of state games by the Customs and Monopolies Agency.

The lockdown effect has created a 1.4 billion euro gap in the Treasury, as highlighted in the graphic produced by Giochidislots.com, with significant losses especially for the online slot machine and VLT segment, as well as for sports and horse racing betting agencies.

But how much did Gambling lose during the lockdown period? Minus 15% on an annual basis compared to 2019, that is 60 billion dollars in gross winnings, as regards betting, for 2020. However, if we consider the beginning of the year, when the aim was to reach around 75 billion dollars, the minus sign would be over 20%. Obviously the reasons are, as mentioned, traceable to the suspension of sporting events and the physical closure of betting centers. These numbers come from H2 Gambling Capital, a data analysis company specialized in the world of Gambling that has, in fact, analyzed the impact of the lockdown on the world of gambling.

The situation is different for online betting, where there was still a drop, but 10% compared to 30% for land-based betting. Within betting, Ed Birkin differentiates between sports betting in general and horse racing betting, which often continued even during the lockdown, albeit behind closed doors, thus recording just a 4% drop compared to initial forecasts (against -16% for sports betting).

Before the pandemic, the sports betting market in 2019 had recorded a gross collection of over 70 billion dollars, representing the largest slice of the market: 55%, or 40 billion dollars. Where do these bets come from? From Asia, especially China and Japan; from Europe, which represents 47% of gross bets; from the North American market, more recent and therefore still in the process of forming, which represents only 6% and which has suffered the greatest impact, given that the National Football League will reopen its doors in early September.