According to new reporting from the Miami Herald, the losses for sports betting are massive. Every March since 1939, college basketball men’s and women’s teams have been battling out to see who will earn the NCAA Division I Championship title.
Past data indicates that billions of dollars are wagered on the various games during the March Madness event. The tournament is an exciting, exhilarating event that players and fans look forward to from one season to the next.
Las Vegas sportsbooks were making huge profits every March from the tournament, and this March, 20 other states and Washington, DC, were counting on being included in those profits. Since the Supreme Court decision in 2018 overturned a ban on sports betting, the industry quickly exploded.
Now that the world is in a frenzied panic state due to the highly contagious coronavirus, sports betting, like other industries, is taking a huge beating. This health crisis has brought many countries to a virtual standstill.
Billions Of Lost Revenue
The coronavirus started in China in late November, and it is believed that the carrier of the virus were bats. Italy has had the most deaths from the virus outside of China.
The virus is now in every state, with West Virginia the last state to report the presence of the virus there. President Trump announced a trillion-dollar stimulus package to be pumped into the industries most impacted by the shutdown, namely the travel industry.
Restaurants and bars have been shuttered in several states, and most sporting events worldwide have been halted. The president also closed the border between Canada and the United States for non-essential travel on Wednesday.
The governor of Florida announced on Tuesday that bars and restaurants would be closed completely for at least 30 days. There is also a worldwide travel ban that prevents anyone but U.S citizens and green card holders from entering the country.
IOC Still Says Olympics Are On
Another area that sport betting providers were looking forward to profiting from was the summer Olympic games in July in Tokyo. Many around the world have called for the games to be canceled for now due to the pandemic crippling the world’s economic structures.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is not backing down, by saying they have consulted with everyone involved with the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020. Most agree that it is too early to cancel the games, which are scheduled to begin on July 24.
Officials with the IOC said, “The games are still four months away, and any type of speculation is counterproductive at this point.” The IOC also said they were committed to doing their part to stop the spread of the virus, and offered condolences to anyone directly affected by the virus.
