The casino sector like every other sector felt the impact of COVID-19. Traditional casinos suffered a decline and setback as lockdown restrictions caused many casinos to close their venues from people. Meanwhile, online casinos profited from this and recorded an impressive rise in revenue and players.
Discovering where to find the best online casinos can be a challenge with no prior experience. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty it brings, many new casinos are entering the online casino market and saturating it with innovations and personal touch.
While new online casinos could open according to plan thanks to the huge online market that was relatively unaffected by COVID-19, new casino venues had to suspend plans of opening as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.
There is no doubt that COVID-19 affected new casinos, causing them to rethink strategies and prioritize online activities. For the most part, the effect of COVID-19 on new casinos was more positive than it was negative.
Here are some of the major effects of COVID-19 on new casinos.
1. Rethinking of Policies
Many new casinos had to rethink their long-term assumption about the casino market. For example, new casinos that based their operations on casino venues had to rethink in favor of online casinos. With the relatively undisrupted activities of online casinos, new casinos are finding online more lucrative, durable, and resistant to external factors.
In many states in the US where online gambling is prohibited, questions are arising about the status and relevance of such rules.
2. New Land-based Casinos Taking A Hit
Land-based casinos are the biggest casualties of the COVID-19 outbreak and resultant lockdown restrictions. New land-based casinos are counting losses instead of profits due to government policy to reduce large gatherings. Land-based casinos thus had to close their doors to help the fight against COVID-19 worldwide.
It is difficult to estimate how much money did both existing and new land-based casinos lose in the COVID-19 period. Many new land-based casinos had to suspend activities and planned launch till when normalcy returns. Some have turned to online casinos to fill in the gap.
3. New Online Casinos Thriving
The greatest beneficiaries of COVID-19 disruptions are online casinos. Many new and existing online casinos are thriving despite all the chaos and troubles going on in the industry. Why? More and more players are turning to online casinos as a form of entertainment and for its ease of play. All you need to play is an internet connection and a device capable of playing it.
With the restrictions on land-based casinos, many ardent users of those casinos are now finding alternative ways to play (online casinos).
The online casino market is forecasted to continue its impressive growth rate this year. By the year 2027, the online casino market will reach USD 127.3 billion. This projection is made more impressive by the accept CAGR of 11.5% from 2020 to 2027. There is room for new casinos to take advantage of this large market place.
4. Further Growth of Mobile Casino Gaming
New casinos that offer mobile casino gaming are thriving during the COVID-19 period. Why? There is increasing adoption of smartphones for casino games. A large portion of casino players, especially the large ‘casual’ players make use of their mobile phones to play their favorite casino games.
Some of the factors driving mobile casino gaming are the availability of cheap mobile devices and free mobile casino applications, portability of the device, and ease of usage. Many new casinos are smartly jumping on the mobile casino gaming trend and developing apps that produce excellent casino gaming experience.
5. Event-Based Casinos Recorded A Decline
For the period where many of the world’s popular sporting events were suspended, many online casinos that offer sports betting and other live wagering services took a hit. Horse racing events and poker tournaments were also suspended.
Luckily, the suspension did not last long and new casinos were able to record profits as the major sporting events resumed.
6. Easing of Restrictions
One benefit of COVID-19 to new online casinos especially those seeking licenses is that some of the restrictions have been relaxed to allow businesses to flourish again. In many territories where online casinos are limited or banned, reviews are going on in favor of casinos.
With more territories open up especially in the US, the ground is set for new online casinos to expand their base and take advantage of the legal market.
Conclusion
New Casinos stand to benefit a lot from the effect of COVID-19. In the short term, the gains may not be much but in the long term, they stand to gain more by adopting themselves to innovations that existing casinos find hard to adapt to.