The betting industry relies on live events to take place. With no live sport, there are no games to bet on which means no income for bookmakers. However, to combat the times when there is no sport to bet on, bookmakers have created their own service. This is virtual sports, something that started out as a horse racing product, but has now developed into much more than that.
The service gives bookmakers something to offer when nothing else is around. It may be a full day of no sport, it could be longer, such as a period like what we are seeing right now due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Whatever it is, virtual sports are a great back up plan for bookmakers, allowing them to give their customers something to bet on when options may be limited:
How Has Virtual Sports Betting Evolved
The first virtual events were horse racing simulations, and to be honest the graphics were not very good. This was not an appealing betting medium for very many people, if virtual sports were to be successful something needed to change.
Now we have state of the art graphics on show, as well as a wide variety of sports. This includes greyhound racing, football, cycling and motor sports all joining horse racing to form a far bigger and better service.
The appeal of virtual sports has broadened because of this. Those who bet on these sports are more inclined to bet on the virtual version of them. For example, a Premier League football fan is more likely to bet on virtual football than any other virtual sport.
Bringing these other events on board has been a big reason why the world of virtual sports has had the success we have seen. If things are going to continue going that way, more sports are needed on board.
Bookmakers Realising the Importance of Virtual Sports
With a complete lack of sporting events, bookmakers have realised the importance of two different markets. eSports have played a big part in their service recently, with players able to log in and play from their own home. When there is no premier league going on physically to bet on, there are e-sports where you can place your bets.
The other important part of their service has been virtual sports. It is only when things happen and sport is taken out of the equation that you realise how important virtual sports are.
Bookmakers will change because of this, after realising the importance of having a virtual offering. Even now we are seeing betting bonuses on virtual sports, where gamblers can get a free bet or bonus funds for signing up and playing on them.
By seeing these bonuses become available, something that we usually associate with big sporting events, we can see that bookmakers want to show us they are taking the world of virtual sports far more seriously.
What Does the Future Hold?
After what has happened recently, it would be no surprise to see bookmakers try and develop their ideas further to give them an even more impressive service.
This could mean more sports moving into the virtual world, joining those that are already there. This would broaden the appeal too.
For example, a virtual tennis match is far more likely to attract tennis gamblers than what a virtual horse race would. Although a computer simulation, at least the game is something tennis fans would be able to relate to.
Bigger promotion of these events would also not be a surprise. We have seen many punters try these events out during the Coronavirus pandemic as people look for things to do.
With promotion showing that they are available all year round, those punters may stick with virtual sports in some way and bet on them in the future.
