After engaging a crowd of 35,000 in 2019 Liverpool’s Aintree Racecourse hosted the Grand National again this year, now just completely devoid of spectators.
A Covid Protected 2021 Grand National
This year Aintree race organisers received the all-clear to go ahead with the 2021 Grand National. The caveat for the controversial steeplechase taking place was a complete shutdown on crowd attendance. Aside from the expected contingent of owners, trainers, jockeys, and media people the stands remained deserted to ensure a Covid-secure event.
Covid-SecuringThe Grand National
Instead of the usual persistent roar of the crowds cheering Jockeys and horses on to peak performance, this year Covid restrictions dictated the runners deliver their best to thunderous silence from the now-empty stands. Aware of the huge crowds historically attracted by this major annual event on the Merseyside social calendar, police stepped up patrols in areas around the Aintree race festival. Residents in the immediate surroundings were warned to not gather in their gardens or indoors in groups greater than six during race day.
Covid Cancelled 2020 Grand National
The Covid-lockdown induced cancellation of 2020’s Grand National robbed Tiger Roll of the opportunity to possibly see his name entered into the record books with an unprecedented third consecutive victory at the Grand National. History, fortunately, did not repeat itself at Aintree in 2021 as far as race calendar cancellations are concerned.
Fortunately the cancellation of the 2020 Grand National did not leave enthusiasts completely without recourse since last year they could still follow the 2020 Virtual Grand National on ITV
Tiger Roll, Rolls Away
Despite putting in an earlier appearance at the Betway Bowl Chase on Thursday where Tiger Roll came home in a disappointing fourth place. His two Nationals won back-to-back in 2018 & 2019 placed him in a position to equal Red Rum’s record at Aintree. However, instead of adding to his landmark 2019 victory, a dispute about race handicaps saw the 11-year old’s owners withdraw his name as a runner in the main race.
Sir Alex & The Silverware
Nevertheless,the inaugural event became history in the making since one of the owners in attendance was Sir Alex Ferguson who had earlier pocketed the Betway Bowl Chase trophy after his horse Clan Des Obeaux galloped to victory. No stranger to silverware himself, Sir Alex was at ground zero while history was made since he had the honour of handing the prestigious Aintree Grand National steeplechase winner’s trophy to a female jockey for the first time.
Blackmore Makes History
More importantly Aintree saw thirty-one-year-old Rachel Blackmore on Minella Times steal the whole show,and in the process, she added her own exciting new page to the record books. On the 9th of April 2021,the current golden girl of racing cemented her name in the annals of history as the first-ever woman winner of Aintree’s prestigious Champion Hurdle.
Covid Restrictions Study Reveals Unexpected Results
Data based on popular trends recently provided the media on numerous occasions with the necessary statistics to light up renewed anti-gambling media frenzies. This provided the highly vocal anti-gambling factions with sufficient impetus to have them foaming at the mouth with demands for additional preventative measures against potential gambling abuses as well as improved awareness and treatment for individuals with gambling-related problems. Despite their hostile source, it is fortunately always worth investing in the fight against these problematic issues.
However, a 2020 report revealed the true effects of the pandemic on the activities of a group of online gamblers and how the results unexpectedly differed completely from popularly held expert beliefs at the time. The report authors derived their conclusions from an active empirical study based on behavioural tracking data collected from the real-time activities of a study group of 133,286 online gamblers. The authors received access to data reflecting the study group’s online behaviours over a 5-month period starting on 01 January 2020 and ending 31 May 2020 which was from just prior to and during the Covid pandemic.
Contrary to popularly held belief the report revealed despite a substantial increase in the number of active gamblers at online casinos. Furthermore, the average amount of money bet daily showed a significant decrease over the 5-month period. In addition, the number of high-risk gamblers also showed a significant decrease throughout the 5-month study. The evidence stands in direct opposition against the commonly held opinion of many groups that problem gambling would show a dramatic increase during pandemic lockdown periods.
Covid Restrictions -Convenience & Safety of Online Gambling
The above study also confirms that Covid-19 lockdown restrictions placed a severe dampener on the activities of main-street bookmakers and betting enthusiasts. Especially those bettors who are in the habit of attending events, matches, races, or casinos and then place or accept bets in person at the venue itself. However, it also shows online gaming entertainment venues, and their supporters suffer a few of these drawbacks and maladies that commonly affect gaming enthusiasts at land-based casinos and main street bookmakers.
UK Online Casino & Sportsbook Market
Historically the UK gambling market is one of the most active and lucrative for both players and online gambling operators alike. Fierce competition amongst sportsbooks, as well as casinos in the UK online entertainment market, saw players offered highly rewarding promotional bonus packages as operators vied for their attention. This made it massively advantageous for players to sign-up as new members of online casinos and sportsbooks.
Its local governing body, the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC), quickly established a reputation as one of the most proactive, effective, and strict entities in its control and enforcement of regulations. However, continued changes in the laws regulating all areas of online gambling entertainment severely curtailed how and what promotional offers operators could use in their marketing and advertising campaigns. This relentlessly encroached on the manner and number of the ways they could use to attract and convince players to register and sign-up as new members.
Overly restrictive regulatory changes have made life difficult for both operators and players alike, whittling away not only at the effectiveness of bonuses to the stage where operators cannot use them at all. Ongoing revisions of the UK’s already severe gambling laws effectively caused the failure of UK no deposit bonuses for many reasons
Negating Benefits of Online Gambling
Gambling at online sportsbooks and casino versus their land-based counterparts offers obvious benefits such as safety and convenience in the current Covid riddled landscape. However, the UK’s constant regulatory revisions imposed an ever-greater number of legal restrictions on online operators which had the opposite effect.
Advertising Restrictions
While there is no outright ban on the offering of bonus packages by online casinos and sportsbooks regulatory restrictions have become so comprehensive and severe it made offering a bonus impossible. Essentially operators may not advertise any bonus offers or make use of a bonus to attract or convince visitors to register and sign-up as members.
Online Gambling’s Social Aspect
Since the start of the pandemic a rolling series of lockdowns left everyone at some stage with feelings of remoteness and loneliness and the levels of intensity would vary. Some experiencing feelings of loneliness more acutely than others and it naturally had an impact on our mental health. Many surmised gambling addiction figures would be a runaway disaster, but studies have shown the opposite to be true. Why is this?
We all need regular bouts of social interaction to survive, while severe measures taken against the spread of Covid robbed us of that acutely necessary activity. We normally find our minimum daily dose of socialising while interacting with colleagues at work, while travelling, in the pub, and numerous other unconsidered activities. This interaction disappeared for weeks and months at a time during Covid lockdowns and there is only so much time you can that one can say to friends and family via Skype, Telegram, Zoom, and the plethora of other apps before wordless silences make things uncomfortable.
It seems people at first took to online gambling as predicted but soon discovered there were whole communities of other people with similar mindsets in equally undesirable situations on the other side of the screen. Online casinos started to fulfill people’s need to interact casually with others which essentially means online gaming has become a social lifeline and less of a place to just gamble.