A number of industries across the globe have been dealt devastating blows by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with the sports betting industry being a case in point.

The serious lack of live sporting events almost anywhere in the world has left an enormous void for the bookmakers and their customers. With much of the world currently being forced into various forms of lockdown and self-isolation, many people feel as though they have too much time on their hands and are searching for a little excitement.

Luckily there are a myriad of online betting options to choose from, so the absence of regular live sports betting events has seen a rise in popularity of other forms of betting, such as slot machines, bingo, poker and casino games.

One that is becoming particularly popular is virtual sports betting. For those of you not entirely familiar with it, virtual sports betting is a process that involves placing bets on computer generated virtual (simulated) games, where the outcomes are decided by numbers selected by a Random Number Generator (RNG).

Virtual sports betting brings you round-the-clock betting, with super graphics and anytime competitions that mean no more waiting and way more action. It’s little wonder that, with traditional sports betting being largely decimated at present, this is now such a fast-growing sector in the online betting world.

These simulations include visuals modelled on real-life stadiums, so that virtual sports can look and feel like you’re watching the real thing live. They often come with commentary and highlight reels for a totally immersive experience so, although it won’t quite match the excitement of a real live sports event, it can get pretty close.  

As with live sports events, virtual sports involves a selection of fixed odds bets that can be made on the match outcome, correct score, number of goals, which team scores first and a variety of other markets.

The outcome of any given game is always algorithm-based, with the winner picked in a totally unbiased way. The beauty of virtual betting is that games can be played 24/7, thus enabling customers betting opportunities whenever they want.

Customers can bet on these events as they would real life sports events, but one of the big differences is that each virtual sport event only usually takes between 3-5 minutes to complete. These condensed versions of the game are depicted in a series of highlights, so there are no lengthy delays or substitutions, injuries, etc.

There’s an ever expanding selection of virtual sports to bet on, with soccer, basketball, horse racing, American Football, motor racing, tennis, speedway and darts among those on offer.  When it comes to the very latest virtual sports betting offers and promotions available, you can get 24/7 virtual sports betting at Freebets.com. Freebets.com is the go-to site to find all the very best betting offers in one place. 

For example, in an American Football virtual sports bet, you will have all your favourite markets available to bet on. 

There will be the Money Line, Spread and Total Points Over/Under (e.g. Over 37.5; Under 37.5), Winning Margin (e.g. 1-6; 7-12; 13-18; 19-24; 25-30; 31 or more); Total Points (Bands – e.g. 0-25; 26-30; 31-35; 36-40; 41-45; 46-50; 51+); Spread & Totals (e.g. Green Bay -1.5 and Over 37.5; Green Bay -1.5 and Under 37.5; New York +1.5 and Over 37.5; New York -1.5 and Under 37.5) and Result & Total (e.g. Green Bay and Over 37.5; Green Bay and Under 37.5; New York and Over 37.5; New York and Under 37.5).    

Basketball is a fairly new addition to the virtual sports betting stable. In addition to the Money Line, Spread and Total Points Over/Under markets, customers can also bet on the likes of Alternative Game Total Points; Alternative Point Spread; Double Result; Result and Total; Spread and Totals; Team Totals and Game Total Bands (5 Point or 10 Point bands).

In regards to soccer virtual sports, you might have options to bet on the Premiership (based on the English Premier League), Superleague (based on European soccer) or World Cup games. Again, there will be a range of familiar betting markets available for customers to enjoy, such as Match Winner, Number of Goals, Correct Score, etc.

Placing a bet on a virtual sports event is essentially no different to placing any other bet, although it’s worth noting that Cash Out isn’t available for Virtual Sports bets and you can’t combine a sportsbook selection with a virtual sports selection in the same betslip.

As with real life sport, there is a vast selection of free bet bonuses available at many of the biggest and most reputable online bookmakers. 

The spread of Covid-19 has resulted in some novelties in virtual sports betting, such as a Virtual Grand National, which saw almost 5 million people tuned in to UK public broadcaster ITV (about half the expected audience for the real race). In this instance, betting on the event produced profits of €3 million ($3.3 million) which went towards the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).

There was also a virtual horse race of Grand National champions, pitting the late Red Rum, who won the National three times in the 1970s, against defending champion Tiger Roll.

There has also been some intriguing virtual sports betting on boxing on YouTube, featuring boxing legends Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, Mike Tyson and George Foreman. Another betting opportunity came in the virtual soccer match between Chelsea Pensioners and Manchester Blues; two entirely fictitious teams.

It’s widely anticipated that live sporting events will gradually return over the next couple of months, possibly even before the end of May in some instances, barring any rise in Covid-19 cases in the interim period. There will naturally be a dip in virtual sports betting at that point, but the surge of interest in their virtual sports should ensure that its long-term future is assured.