Betting Shops — A Thing of the Past?
All the way up until the late 1990s, UK punters could only enjoy sports betting by visiting their local betting shop. The business was flourishing, and hundreds of new betting shops were opening throughout the country every year.
Today, only more than two decades later, things look grim for the land-based sports betting industry. Sportsbooks are shutting down left and right, and some predict that they soon might become a thing of the past. But why is that so?
The Continuous Rise of Online Sports Betting
The first online gambling websites appeared in the mid-90s, but they were far from being an immediate hit. The majority of punters were not tech-savvy and lacked proper computer equipment and internet connection. Also, many were skeptical about placing wagers over the internet as they feared for safety and fairness. The trust in technology itself was simply not there yet.
As newer and faster computers hit the market and the internet became easily accessible to the majority of the population, more and more betting websites started to pop up. There was no cause for alarm yet, but the number of players who were opting out to play online was slowly rising.
With smartphones came sports betting apps that made things even more convenient. Moreover, online betting operators could attract players by offering them bonuses, free bets, and real-time in-play betting, something that couldn’t be found in land-based betting shops.
Slowly but surely, online sportsbooks became a real competition to their land-based counterparts. However, while the surge of online gambling might be looked at as the main reason why betting shops are disappearing, it’s not the only one.
To truly get the answer to this phenomenon, we have to look at what happened in just the last year or so.
Crackdown on Fixed-Odds Betting
Hundreds of high-street bookies have closed down in the last several months, and one of the reasons for that is the government’s crackdown on fixed-odds betting.
Namely, fixed-odds betting terminals accounted for more than half the profits of land-based betting shops. These terminals still exist, but they now have a very limited maximum stake that was cut down from £100 to only £2.
It’s then easy to see why some bookies are no longer able to keep their revenue flow on the same level as before. Some adapted, but many were forced to undergo huge layoffs or simply close down for good.
Coronavirus and the Lockdown
To top it all off, the COVID-19 outbreak that took a toll on many businesses across various industries has had a disastrous effect on betting shops as well.
The shops now work limited hours and are no longer able to allow the same number of customers inside. Moreover, the punters themselves are scared into going to physical betting shops, which gives them all the more reason to pursue sports betting over the internet.
The lockdown also caused many sporting events to get cancelled or postponed, creating a domino effect that directly impacted the sports betting industry as a whole.
Is There Any Hope for Betting Shops in the Future?
The present 2020 might prove to be a pivotal year for UK betting shops. With the increase of online sports betting, new restrictive laws firmly in place, and the COVID-19 outbreak that shows no signs of stopping, it seems as if all forces have gathered to destroy what was once a thriving industry.
So is there any hope for betting shops at all? Well, there might be.
Laws are continually changing, and even if they don’t, betting operators are sure to find a way to adapt to them as they did many times before. Also, the lockdown won’t last forever. Some even predict that the things might go back to normal in the first half of next year. Of course, this is all very optimistic, but hope is the keyword here.
That only leaves online sports betting as the sole nemesis of betting shops, and that’s something that land-based operators had to deal with regardless of other adversities. It’s easy to see what online betting sites are winning this fight. They are more convenient and have more options for the punter.
The only advantage that betting shops have is the social aspect of gambling, like going in with a few friends to watch your team play and take a couple of bets to make things more interesting.
While online betting never really threatened to fully destroy betting shops, it at least made them vulnerable. With restrictive laws and the lockdown coming in from the other flank, some betting shops were forced to close down and might never return.
Betting shops are not a thing of the past yet, but one thing is certain — we will see fewer of them in the future.
