William Hill Sees A Rise In Table Tennis Wagers

William Hill has reported that its punters are turning their attention to table tennis, following the coronavirus enforced suspension of many of its more popular sports. 

Russian table tennis is what’s drawing the attention of punters and they’re wagering close to $1 million every day, beating the amounts they spend on football, NASCAR, and golf. 

Credit: Wikimedia

William Hill’s sportsbook director, Nick Bogdanovich, had this to say about the increased interest in table tennis: “It’s just so much bigger than anything else going on on a daily basis.

“There’s 100 matches a day and steady action all day long. By the end of the day, it adds up,” he said. “We didn’t know we’d write that kind of business until we started it.

“We put up everything — darts, judo, Burundi soccer, esports. They all have the same ability to draw action and haven’t. For whatever reason, they gravitate toward that sport.”

Credit: Wikimedia

Table tennis was the most popular sport for William Hill in spite of the recommencement of the Bundesliga – currently, the only major football league to return from coronavirus lockdown. 

Indeed, Bogdanovich guessed that punters bet five times as much on Sunday 20 May (the weekend of the Bundesliga’s return) on table tennis as they did on football, golf, and NASCAR combined. 

Credit: PXHere

Coronavirus has had a huge impact on the sports industry. This is particularly true for football, with Premier League clubs alone predicted to lose £177 million because of the suspension of live games attended by fans. 

It’s difficult to tell when sports will welcome back fans – social distancing is expected to remain in place in some form throughout 2020 and that makes it difficult to allow stadium events to take place. 

But one thing is clear: betting fans haven’t been put off by the loss of football, NASCAR, golf, and the other major sports. 

The question, though, is whether table tennis will continue to draw in the most bets. Our guess is that fans will begin to return to their staple sports once they’ve adjusted to the new, fanless action they see on their screens.