The 2020 motorsport season was supposed to be a great year. Australia’s Supercars Championship planned to take place alongside the Grand Prix starting in March. But both events were cancelled before they started.
The National Hot Rod Association, which runs drag racing events in Canada and the US nearly started its season. But similar to Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR and MotoGP, the pandemic put a halt to that.
Amid the pandemic, and understandably, most motorsport racing fans were concerned about their families, friends and their biggest driving heroes. As such, very few people shared their empathy with the motorsports betting industry.
Despite that, betting was one of the hardest hit aspects of motorsports. Here’s why…
Revised Calendars and Reduced Schedules
From Supercars and IndyCar to NASCAR and Formula 1, nearly all motorsport series had the same thought: 2020’s season had to be completed. Indeed, most series have since revised their calendars and returned back to action.
Supercars resumed on May 17, albeit with significant changes in its racing schedule. For example, both races in Newcastle and the Gold coast would be dropped from this year’s calendar. On the flip side, it voted to count the race held in Melbourne pre-COVID as a valid Supercars event.
Formula 1 hasn’t been so successful, though. And because of how it works—races across several continents—it’s been challenging to organise racing events. Worse, some drivers have already tested positive for COVID-19, complicating matters even more.
In North America, however, things have been a tad better for IndyCar and NASCAR. Both events returned back in June and are ongoing. MotoGP resumed in July while World Rally Championship came back in August.
Online Betting took the Spotlight
In many countries where sports gambling is allowed, land-based betting was severely affected by COVID-19. Not only did betting shops have to close down to protect their employees; they had to deal with no sports action.
Meanwhile, online betting took the spotlight. But in all fairness, they weren’t performing at their best. Most sports leagues were on a hiatus, after all. However, they provided betting markets as much as they could.
With that in mind, online bookmakers retained their popularity among betters even after motorsports returned. That’s because most countries have had mandatory lockdowns since March. And that means many punters aren’t allowed to leave their homes for any reason.
Fortunately, online bookies have been pretty impressive in how they handled a world with little sports action. Precisely, they offered all manner of sports, sometimes with free bets to keep their fans active.
Always Open Casinos
One of the most interesting twists to 2020’s strange happenings is that always opened online casinos nearly replaced sportsbooks. That’s not a typo. Back in April, nearly every sports league got cancelled and betting sites started to collapse.
But guess what? Bettors didn’t stop betting. They just changed how they bet. Instead of wagering on NASCAR, they turned to NASCAR-inspired slot machines. On the other hand, people that like the skill-based nature of betting became poker players.
Interestingly, the demand for non Gamstop casinos and betting sites also increased in 2020. Perhaps that’s because quarantined people were looking for all manner of ways to spend their free time. And that included people on Gamstop at the time.
Reduced Betting Markets
Everyone saw this coming. The pandemic affected Motorsports calendars and that meant nothing would be normal on betting websites. The most significant change was to focus on well-known betting types:
- Fastest lap
- Championship winners
- Podium finish bets
- Futures
- To-win bets
Depending on the bookmaker, not all of the above-mentioned betting types were offered. Some bookies provided a couple of them while ignoring the rest. In case you’re wondering, it all has to do with demand.
Like many businesses this year, bookmakers have had to adjust their products and services. And they are only providing what’s in demand. That also applies to championships. You won’t find many bookies with bets for Formula E, AMA Supercross or World Endurance Championship.
Temporary Bonus Dry Spell
When Motorsports leagues started to cancel games in March, betting websites didn’t have many choices. They were struggling to survive. As a result, they reduced their free bets and bonus offers, providing them only when it made complete sense.
Luckily, the bonus dry spell wasn’t long-lasting. Bookmakers swung back to their generous selves immediately motorsports championships resumed. Those that used to provide welcome packages reinstated these offers.
And websites that preferred to provide loyalty bonuses resumed giving out these rewards. In fact, bonus offers after lockdowns became too many that experts warned punters to claim free bets cautiously.
It’s almost as if betting websites jumped into a showdown to score the most customers in the least amount of time. And since free bets are excellent marketing tools, that’s why they are freely offered.
Betting Data
Another blow to Motorsports betting this year concerned finding helpful statistics, news and injury reports. Misleading news, half-truths and rumours outnumbered accurate information. And that made it challenging to predict races correctly.
Sometimes everything seemed to work fine until a few hours before a race. Then false news would imagine that a driver tested with COVID-19 or that a race has been postponed. Add the significantly low data sources and you’ll discover why some punters quit betting on Motorsports.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely impossible to find Motorsports betting data sources. It was just challenging. For example, some bookmakers offered drivers’ stats and past records. But they couldn’t confirm lineups and racing dates sometimes.
Conclusion
Amid COVID-19, national lockdowns and tremendous job losses, most people haven’t been keen on how 2020 affected Motorsports betting. But as mentioned above, the pandemic was as devastating to betting as it was to the sport.
One the one hand, bookmakers had no Motorsports racing championships to provide. On the other, bettors were forced to try casino gaming to cope with a lack of sports. Luckily, things are gradually getting back to normal. And Motorsports betting fans can soon wager on their favourite sport stress-free.
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