The SBC Digital Summit started off recently with an acknowledgment of the unprecedented crisis being faced by the industry. The addresses by Sportradar’s Carsten Koerl and SBC Managing Director Andrew McCarron highlighted the concerns.

The industry has changed

Both the speakers suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a crisis in the gaming industry but hoped that it will emerge from the shadows and become even stronger. McCarron said that if things went well, the SBC would be focused on creating the 2^nd edition of Sports Betting on Sports America. The program was originally scheduled for 28^th April. He said that the world is changing and the SBC resorted to a Digital Summit to ensure the industry remained tightly pulled together.

McCarron walked the 400 early joiners with the features of the conference and said that they have tried to make the venue as comfortable for everyone as possible. He also urged everyone to try the virtual networking room. Koerl then started with his keynote address, suggesting that the entire supply side is gone in the industry. He also noted that the current situation of a total shutdown never seemed possible but it happened very quickly.

When will things we back to normal?

Koerl did not sugarcoat things and said that it could take some time for things to get back to normal. His company Sportsradar is focusing on creating virtual sports offerings. They are using the last 10 years of data to create match simulations based on the strengths and weaknesses of individual players. Their primary focus is the Euro Cup. It has also built an eSports product. He Koerl said that a FIFA 20 match may not hold as much weight as a live soccer match but the product can still manage to get some action.

He also said that they have witnessed an 11% rise in sports content on their platform in April, despite the lack of sporting events, on a year-on-year basis. The existing offering on their platform cannot match the weight of traditional sporting events, but they can easily match the volume.

Sporting events could be back in due time. The Bundesliga is planning a come back in May and the K-League still has a May 8 start date. Soon, the North American leagues can also start catching up. Koerl hopes that the leagues will be back in the next 4 to 5 weeks.