COVID-19 has had a massive impact on the lives of many people around the world. People’s daily lives have changed drastically over the past month, especially in European countries where a lockdown has been administered. England, France, Spain, Germany and Italy are five of the main countries to have suffered from the virus and professional football in each of them has been suspended.
Although dates have been set for the possible resumption all leagues, including the Premier League, at this stage it seems unlikely they will be met. Even if professional football was to resume in late April or early May, we could see all matches played behind closed doors. So, although the top Premier League clubs will receive television money for these games, they will not receive any money from gate receipts and other matchday purchases.
The relevant football authorities also need to consider how the lower professional leagues in each country are going to be completed. Will any of these games be televised? If not, does that mean the clubs are going to miss out on what could be vital money for their survival? There is no doubt that professional football clubs lower down the league pyramid are going to face tough times over the next 12 months. However, now could be a good time for the richest clubs around Europe to help those teams who could face potential ruin from the lack of gate receipts.
Football will recover from COVID-19 and it will resume and mean the same to most people as it did before the outbreak. That doesn’t mean the sport itself will be operating in exactly the same way and what does it all mean for UK bookmakers? That’s uncertain, which explains why some punters are seeking offers in other markets. VOdds is an example of one the latest Asian handicap betting platforms that offer aggregated real-time odds from a comprehensive list of difficult to reach Asian bookies. They offer growing list of bookmakers includes Pinnacle Sports, SBOBET, MaxBet, and many more whilst the UK bookmaking landscape is uncertain, making them a welcomed alternative. Users may access VOdds through vodds.com, vodds.co or vodds.net, or may use a VPN for uninterrupted access.
Now a lot of business for UK bookmakers surrounds the Premier League. If you visit the homepage of on online UK bookmaker, they mostly lead with odds for Premier League matches. Even during the off season, UK bookmakers will be offering odds for who will win the Premier League next season, relegation odds, who will finish in the top four odds plus odds on potential player transfers.
Even the best online sportsbook will admit this is a tough time. Yes, there are a handful of professional football leagues around the world still playing on which punters can place a bet. However, for UK bookmakers, the Premier League makes up much of their revenue and there can be no hiding from that fact.
One thing is for sure, football fans cannot wait for the sport to get going again. All UK bookmakers are open for business and ready to take bets on the beautiful game. Whether we see a compact end to the 2019/20 campaign or we are forced to move on to next season and start over, the majority of football fans will probably not care as long as there is football to watch, teams to cheer and bets to enjoy via a leading sports broker. Liverpool and other clubs who are currently in a strong position will not want the current season to be scrapped but if it means we can return to football, it may have to happen.
We may be forced to wait until the beginning of May until there is any chance of football returning to the Premier League. However, it will be a time to celebrate for everyone involved.
