How gambling is faring in the era of Coronavirus

History may look back at this point in time as being similar to other historical periods besieged by epidemic. If nothing else, the current Coronavirus outbreak has reminded us all just how fragile humanity is.

At the time of this writing hundreds of thousands have been sickened, more than 1,000 have died, and medical science still hasn't figured out how Coronavirus spreads so easily. On average one infected person will infect 2.5 other people, and then there's the super-spreaders who can infect tens of people. It is a scary thing to be sure.

Whenever the world faces a medical crisis of such proportions, there are always economic concerns. And where there are economic concerns, the gambling industry is also affected. The industry has most definitely taken a hit as a result of Coronavirus. Though online gambling operators have been largely spared, land-based casinos are suffering, a lot.

Beyond its obvious impacts on human health, Coronavirus has also shown us just how interconnected we all are. Casinos from Macau to Las Vegas are seeing less traffic as a result of people being afraid to travel. The most affected casinos are those located in Asia. Until Coronavirus is brought under control, their struggles will continue.

Industry shutdown in Macau

The hardest hit area within the gambling industry is China's special administrative region known as Macau. Located on China's southern coast and just 37 miles west of Hong Kong on the South China Sea, Macau was once a Portuguese colony. Over the last hundred years it has gradually been developed into a tourist city. Its major draw these days is gambling at its many casinos.

Government regulators ordered the shutdown of the city's casinos on February 4 in hopes of stemming the spread of Coronavirus. The thinking was to prevent people from traveling, thus preventing those already infected from spreading the disease to other parts of the country.

In Macau, no new cases of Coronavirus have been identified over the last several days. If the shutdown extends to two or three weeks, losses will be in the hundreds of millions.

There is also the prospect of slow business even when the casinos reopen. Just because the city has not seen any new cases of Coronavirus in days does not mean people are suddenly going to be eager to travel again. It could take many months for travel in mainland China to return to normal.

Millions in daily losses

The end result of Macau's casino shutdown is likely to be financially devastating. Consider the losses reported just by Wynn Resorts. The company lost some $73 million in the final quarter of 2019, and those losses are being exacerbated by additional losses of up to $2.6 million per day in Macau, according to Forbes. A two-week shutdown in Macau could mean additional losses of $36 million and more for Wynn.

Such losses do not affect just Wynn Resorts as a company. They also affect local workers who are not getting paid and tourists who are not spending money in restaurants, shops, and event venues. The effect Coronavirus is having on Macau's economic outlook is simply staggering.

Casino gambling elsewhere

Macau may be the epicentre of the gambling industry's Coronavirus problem, but it is not the only locale where casinos are suffering. Saipan has problems of its own. Saipan is a U.S. commonwealth and part of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Northwest Pacific.

Casino operators there are also seeing a loss of business thanks to Asian travel restrictions. Meanwhile, some government leaders in the Philippines are calling for casino workers in the southern portion of Manilla to be tested for Coronavirus. They want Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) to encourage their workers to be tested in an attempt to contain any outbreak before it occurs.

Halfway across the world, gambling operators in the West are undoubtedly seeing some affects as well. Though there are no hard numbers to date, it stands to reason that less overseas travel means fewer guests visiting casinos in Europe and the Americas. The severity of any impact on Western casinos will probably not be known for several more months.

Gambling continues online

Online operators are obviously impacted very little by consumer travel habits. In fact, those whose travel plans have been altered by Coronavirus may take the same money they would have gambled at land-based casinos and gamble online instead.

Of course, there are some casinos that offer both types of gaming. Their land-based operations feature a typical gaming floor flush with slots and table games. They also offer online gambling via live table games and video slots. Casinos with supplemental online games will fare better than those that only operate a physical gaming floor.

Online gambling with Bitcoin

Given that online gambling has been impacted very little by Coronavirus, there are few worries about Bitcoin gambling. Funding online gambling with cryptocurrency transcends geography and borders. But beyond the obvious, the Coronavirus outbreak could actually end up being a good thing for the Bitcoin gambling sector. Gamblers choosing not to travel could be encouraged to do their gambling online. They could further be encouraged to use Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to fund their play.

The whole point of Bitcoin is to provide an alternative way of paying for things outside of traditional banking. Whether or not anyone thinks Bitcoin will overtake fiat is really immaterial to Bitcoin's core function. At the end of the day, Bitcoin is a viable payment system that does what it does very well.

Online casino operators know that, which is why growing numbers of them are embracing Bitcoin payments. They see Bitcoin as a tool for extending their reach to new gamblers who otherwise would have no access to online games. Many casino operators are specifically courting Bitcoin players through bonuses and other incentives that encourage them to spend their coins.

An opportunity for online operators

It would appear as though the online gambling industry has been handed a golden opportunity to promote cryptocurrency play. Casino shutdowns in the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak are an opportunity to explain how gambling with cryptocurrency transcends geographic boundaries.

The amazing thing about Bitcoin is that you can transact business with it - from start to finish - without ever leaving your home. You do not even need a bank account. With a prepaid debit card purchase from the local convenience store, you could turn around and purchase Bitcoin online. You can then deposit that Bitcoin at an online casino and immediately start playing your favourite games.

The one caveat here is withdrawing your gambling winnings. Some casinos readily accept Bitcoin for deposits but only facilitate withdrawals via credit card or bank transfer. Others will pay out using the same currency players chose for deposit. Those are the ones you would look for if you wanted to keep your gambling completely separate from the banking sector.

At any rate, the current situation affords the online gambling industry an opportunity to reach an entirely new audience. If they can convince gamblers who would otherwise play at land-based casinos to go online instead, any resulting growth could be sustained even after the Coronavirus scare has ended.

Of course, this is all speculation. No one really knows the end result of the Coronavirus outbreak. We also do not know how the online gambling industry will respond. What we do know is that Coronavirus is wreaking havoc in places like Macau. The sooner land-based casinos in those regions reopen, the better their bottom lines will be. The longer they remain closed, the bigger the hit they and their local economies will take.

Funding the fight against Coronavirus

In the meantime, gambling operators around the world are contributing financially to the fight against Coronavirus. Asian operators have been especially generous for obvious reasons. For example, Sands China has pledged more than $3 million in funding. MGM China has pledged $2.5 million.

Funding the fight is both the right thing to do and a good business move. It is the right thing to do in the sense that the entire world has a stake in bringing the Coronavirus outbreak to an end before it turns into a serious pandemic like situation. Those with the means to help fight it should. The move is good in a business sense inasmuch as getting Coronavirus under control will allow gambling operators to get back to normal. They cannot afford the outbreak to continue for much longer.