It’s been a strange year to be involved in the world of sports. The pandemic has caused a lot of closures and limited operations worldwide for sporting companies, and many major events have been cancelled or postponed. And on top of that, there’s now news of college football restrictions that could impact the industry even more for the rest of the year.
Both sporting fans and sporting companies have been struggling in 2020, and the sports betting industry in particular has had to adapt very quickly.
One of the biggest pieces of news that has come out of the sporting industry recently is the Big Ten Conference introducing college football restrictions, as a result of the pandemic. If you haven’t heard of the Big Ten Conference before, it’s the oldest Division 1 college athletics conference in America- so this news has shaken a lot of people in the industry.
In this blog post, we’ll be taking a look at this news in more depth, and analyzing it from the perspective of the New Jersey sports betting industry. Here in New Jersey, we have a number of fantastic sports betting providers, and this news story has been a hot topic as of late.
What we cover
How has the pandemic affected sports events this year?
As a whole, the pandemic has caused a lot of disruption and turbulence in the sporting community. One of the main ways that it has caused disruptions is with cancellations and postponements of big events. The pandemic has caused countless events to be rescheduled, even stretching so far as to postpone the Olympics- which was a historical move.
Sports-related companies have been feeling the strain with the pandemic in recent months, too. Sports equipment stores, sports bars and training centers have all had to close their doors this year, with many people being put onto furlough leave or even losing their jobs. Thankfully, we seem to be slowly but surely returning to a state of normalcy at the moment.
The sports betting industry has also been impacted by the pandemic, and it has caused a lot of turbulence for our local sportsbooks in New Jersey. The combination of event postponements and location closures have forced sportsbooks to have to get creative with their offerings and content for their audience, which has been a source of strain and stress for many people.
One of the positives that has come out of this year in relation to sports betting in particular is that the NFL appears to be moving towards better partnerships and alliances with sports betting providers. Earlier in the year, we covered the topics of sportsbook sponsors and their collective bargaining agreement. It’s positive to see so much change happening in the NFL like this.
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How have NJ sportsbooks reacted to the college football restrictions from the Big Ten?
Recently, it was announced by the Big Ten conference that only conference-based football games will be taking place this fall. All other matches have been effectively cancelled, much to the disappointment of fans and industry members. This is, of course, a safety precaution, to make sure that football players, fans and on-location employees are all kept safe.
These college football restrictions have had knock-on effects already. Voided bets and cancelled sporting events have caused disruptions for event managers, sponsors and sportsbooks too. New Jersey’s sportsbooks have had to react quickly to the news, and there is a lot of ongoing discussion in the sports gambling industry right now.
New Jersey sportsbooks have reacted with disappointment to the announcement that non conference games will not be taking place, naturally. While they can still accept bets and wagers on games outside of New Jersey, they are incredibly limited in what bets they can accept in relation to the college football restrictions.
There is some discussion in the industry over what will happen if other athletic conferences follow suit and decide to cancel or postpone major events. This year, of course, has been absolutely unprecedented, and it’s hard to see what the right decision will be overall.
It goes without saying that the cancellations and restrictions are positive, though. While these college football restrictions may seem frustrating or disappointing from the perspective of a fan, it is vital to remember that these measures have been put in place to protect both the football players and the employees working at the games. It’s an important, considerate move.
One positive to take away from the college football restrictions is that we do appear to be on track to return to some state of normalcy in the sporting world- although it’s unclear when we will be back to normal fully. The fact that there are any matches going on at all is brilliant, and the fact that they are being done in safe, regulated manners is even better.
If you’re still looking to get your sports gambling fix this year, we’d suggest looking online for some betting opportunities and games to play. There are countless incredible sports betting providers available online right now, and there’s games covering everything from fast-paced eSports, to captivating daily fantasy sports tournaments.
Summary
It will be fascinating to see how the college football restrictions affect the New Jersey sportsbooks, and the local sports betting industry as a whole. New Jersey is a gambling hub, after all, and is home to some of the best players in the game- so it’ll be intriguing to see how the industry leaders mitigate these restrictions.
In general, we’ll be interested to see how 2020 finishes up for the sports betting industry. There have been so many interesting stories as of late, and New Jersey has found a lot of success with sports betting in recent months. Lockdown has brought a lot of people into the online gambling and eSports world too, which has been interesting to see.
Are you a New Jersey resident interested in playing online in our state and taking advantage of the best offers? Check out our curated list of NJ casinos, NJ sportsbooks and online bonuses.
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