What the Casino Industry Will Look Like after Quarantine

What the Casino industry will look like after quarantine
When the pandemic struck in early 2020, modern society was forced to shut itself down in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

This meant that many of the places that had to rely on lots of foot traffic and human interaction were forced to scale back significantly. As you may have expected, industries like food and beverage, hospitality, and gambling took huge hits as a result of the pandemic.
Fast forward to a year later, more and more people are now getting vaccinated and these establishments that were forced to close down are now reopening their doors once again. Life is slowly starting to revert back to the relative old normal. But what does that mean for the casino industry? Will it be able to regain its former glory?
Online Gambling Will Still Dominate
The pandemic caused a huge surge in the online gambling market. Online gambling has been around since the mid-1990s and has been gradually rising in popularity ever since. However, there was an immense surge that took place over the course of the pandemic when people were practically forced to do everything digitally. More and more people started signing up for online gambling sites as an alternative to the casinos that were closed to the public for months on end. It certainly helped that online platforms and live casinos started offering some generous bonuses and promotions for potential players. Just because the pandemic is nearing its end doesn’t mean that online gambling isn’t going to continue to grow. In fact, as people grow to embrace technology more and more, it’s likely that online gambling revenues will continue to skyrocket well into the future.
More Countries and States Will Regulate Sports Betting
People love their sports. Even at the height of the pandemic, the world’s premiere basketball league, the NBA, went out of their way to continue the rest of the season in a highly complicated and sophisticated bubble setup within Disney World in Orlando. It just goes to show how lucrative the professional sports industry is. And a lot of that has to do with sports betting as well. This is why you can expect more states and countries to legalize and regulate sports betting within their territories. There are far too many people who are engaging in sports betting online and that’s too much potential tax money that’s left being unregulated.
Land-Based Casinos Will Implement Strict Health Protocols
In various parts of the world, traditional casinos are starting to open themselves up to the public again. This is very welcome news for gamblers who have been eager to hit the tables after waiting for a long time. However, there is still a huge chunk of the global population that remains unvaccinated and susceptible to the virus. This is why you can expect many casino establishments to institute some strict health and safety protocols just to ensure the protection of their patrons. You can also expect constant sanitization of common areas as a precautionary measure.
Traditional Casinos Will Build Digital Platforms
Traditional casinos were looking at the digital platforms throughout the pandemic and were regretting not getting into the online space any sooner. This is why you can expect them to not make the same mistake twice. Look for many land-based casino operators to build digital platforms of their own just to hedge their bets and capture another vital part of the gambling market.
Mergers and Acquisitions Will Dominate the Industry
Instead of building new digital platforms from scratch, many of the big players in the traditional casino industry will just look to merge or acquire already established digital platforms. This will save them a lot more time, money, and effort in the long run because acquisitions or mergers would provide them with existing algorithms, system architecture, and market leads. The future for any industry is digital and the pandemic forced many casino brands to realize this truth the hard way. In fact, the famous MGM International company, known for its movie production and Las Vegas-based hotel and casino, made an $11 billion offer to acquire Entain, a digital sports betting company situated in the Isle of Man. It’s very likely that more big offers will come from these established brands as they look to expand their digital footprint.