Scottland’s Betting Space Lands into Troubles Shortly After the Reopenings

For a long time, most gaming-based industries remained shut amid the difficult to control pandemic that has created havoc while disturbing normalcy of human life. Most of the partially affected nations have considered the idea of not limiting the common people inside the doors anymore as it has been more than a couple of months now.

Betting, a widespread industry that operates under legal licenses in a few European countries have been severely affected, too, as it largely depends upon gaming. After a prolonged pause, lately, it had seen a reopening in the Scottish region, but now again, the sector is witnessing red flags.

In Scotland, bookmakers are finding it strugglesome to resume their regular operations in this post Coronavirus period. According to them, it is the strict regulation that is creating troubles for them. As the week initiated, the Betting & Gaming Council (BGC) has addressed Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon telling that the “draconian” restrictions (Regarding Covid-19 precautions) that have been imposed on betting space are posing as “a huge question mark” on the long-term perspective of the local bookmaking sector.

In Britain, around 7ooo betting centers had to close due to the virus in March this year. In mid-June, these betting shops saw a reopening, although with safety measures to prevent infections. Moreover, around 900 betting shops in Scottland managed to see a reopening on June 29, although with a bit more strict regulations like no chairs and no live racing broadcasts on shop TVs. Also, it was instructed to switch off all shop gaming machines.

To this, Scotland’s Finance Secretary Kate Forbes has noted that these rules are made with an intention to “avoid clusters of people.” she adds that these betting shops are supposed to get reopened to place bets only, for now, considering the increased risk of Covid-19 infections.

What concerns BGC is that after this whole Corona-virus scenario, betting turnover has fallen down by 95% as compared to what it was before.

Perhaps, there remains a blurry vision regarding how nations can help such sectors come out of the gloomy era after the Coronavirus outbreak; betting, however, is not the only industry that is struggling these much. In the last semester, almost all the businesses have faced severe wounds here and there.