How the Coronavirus Will Affect Global Gambling Revenue, According to the EGBA

15.04.2020, 19:38

On March 23rd, the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) gave a press release regarding the projected effects of COVID-19 on global gambling revenue. The EGBA uses data-driven intelligence in order to predict values as accurately as possible. 

In 2018, online sports betting revenue netted a massive €2.36 billion for EGBA members. This figure accounts for 44% of its members’ online gambling revenue. 

Currently, most major sports events across the world have been canceled or postponed, for instance, the UK’s Grand National, the European Champion’s League, and Spain’s La Liga have all delayed their seasons for the time being. 

The Secretary-General of the EGBA, Maarten Haijer, was quoted in the press release. He stated that it is tragic that so many events are being postponed, and this chain of events will definitely negatively impact the gaming sector. However, public health and safety need to come before profit, which is why sporting authorities are having to make such difficult decisions. 

Year Over Year Analysis

Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, the EGBA had forecasted a YoY (Year over Year) growth of 3.31% for 2020/2019 YoY. On February 2nd, 2020, the forecasted growth dropped down to 1.97%. Only a few weeks later, the forecast dropped to the negatives and it has been declining ever since. On March 5th, the projected forecast dwindled to -3.44%. Currently, it has plummeted all the way down to -8.08%.  

Global Gambling Gross Win Timeline

In the press release, the EGBA included data showing the trends of annual global winnings over the last eighteen years. From 2003 — 2019, the world generally saw consistent growth in winnings, except for a slight dip in 2015. However, 2020 has broken that trend. In 2019, winnings topped in at $457 billion. Now, it is projected that 2020 will reap only $421 billion in winnings, this figure is essentially undoing the last three years of progress. 

The EGBA also released a chart illustrating how the projections for a gross win have changed over the past several weeks. Pre COVID-19, the estimations showed that there would be gross winnings of $472.6 billion. By the time March came around, that had dropped to $447 billion. Currently, it is sitting at $420.5 billion. 

Continental Statistics

So far, we have focused on the coronavirus’ impact on the global gambling industry. However, we also learned from the press release that North America’s Gross Win forecast has downgraded by -6.65%, Europe is at -4.75%, and Asia/Oceania is at -15.55%. 

To facilitate the press briefing’s projections, the EGBA used data from H2 Gambling Capital. This is a subscription-based onsite analytics company that tracks gambling data. Over 1,000 organizations use their projections, and their data-driven insights are influential among legislators and investors.