This article discusses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the online lottery industry.
The sudden and unpredicted outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic has affected the growth of the lottery market. The market expecting to double its growth in a few years has unfortunately faced a great downfall since the abrupt outbreak of the COVID 19 global pandemic in 2020, especially after the lockdown, which was imposed soon after. However, it has been observed recently that the system of online lottery is gradually contributing to the recovery of the global lottery market.
Factors Influencing Online Lotteries during the Pandemic
Online lotteries have been affected adversely since the breakout of the COVID 19 pandemic, and the lockdown imposed soon after. The pandemic has affected the global market, including the online lottery market, in several ways.
- At least 40% of the people around the globe have experienced a significant decrease in their income. Hence, most people are refraining from gambling.
- The decline in individuals’ income has also prompted a section of the people to opt for online lotteries to stabilize their financial condition by winning a lottery.
- Due to the closing of the retail lottery, around 50% of the overall income generated through lotteries were blocked. Even the online lottery market had stopped functioning efficiently, leading to a collapse in the lottery market.
- Apart from many individuals who had stopped purchasing lottery tickets due to the pandemic, it was also observed that new members in the lottery market were accounted to be only 0.4%.
The Positive Impact of the Pandemic in Online Gambling
The lockdown imposed due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, the lottery market has seen a considerable drop in its revenue. The lockdown had prompted the closing of all the lottery retail stores, casinos, or any gambling venues like gambling lounges, hotels, bars, bingo halls & so on, leading to a remarkable fall in the profit of the lottery market.
An aspect, which prevented the total collapse of the lottery market, was the system of online lotteries. People all around the world have started spending more time online, playing online games that also had the feature of the lottery. Moreover, online lotteries were easily accessible. The lottery’s active players had mainly declined, but despite that, many individuals continued playing lotteries on the online platform.
Several lottery operators like togel Hongkong have gone digital with their services. An increase in the revenue collected through the online lottery of about 13% has been recognized. This introduction of online gambling has prompted many players to try out the online lottery at least once, thus increasing the lottery revenue. The already existing players have contributed more funds in playing lotteries online.
Effect of the Pandemic on Online Lottery Across Different Nations
- A decline of 11% in the revenue for the global lottery has been faced.
- The online lottery revenue has declined by 50% in the United Kingdom.
- The closure of casinos in Macau has led to a decrease of 88 % in the lottery market revenue.
- Online as well as offline betting has observed a drop of 59.3% in Italy.
Conclusion
There has been a significant decline in the number of lottery players during the COVID 19 pandemic. It has resulted in a major drop in the revenue of the lottery market globally. Moreover, the lockdown had blocked all the offline outlets of the lottery. However, the emergence of online lottery, especially after the rise of online gaming & other activities in people other the world, had been a savior in maintaining a gradually increasing collection of funds through an online lottery. Individuals were engaged in the online lottery during the pandemic for fun & time pass more than for winning money. The lack of finance and crisis in health led to an increase in the players of the online lottery.
