Online bettors unable to put money on the outcomes of their favourite sports due to coronavirus-induced shutdowns of sporting events are turning towards the weather to hedge their bets.
Bovada - one of the United State's largest online sportsbooks - told TMZ on Tuesday that since pro-sporting events, games, and seasons have largely been canceled or postponed over the outbreak of Covid 19, their customers have shifted to the site’s 'Weather Betting' channel.
This side of gambling is far less subject to shake-up than sporting events and there's no favourite or underdog, you just have to guess correctly.
The vast majority of Bovada's weather bets are simply predicting the temperature in particular US cities. Bettors gamble over whether it will be above or below a certain degree in any upcoming day.
In Los Angeles, the limit is set at 61 degrees for March 18 and the odds for over or under that temp are the same. If you lay down $120 and if your guess on which side of the thermometer the temperature lands on is right, you'll win $100.
The coronavirus pandemic has seen the closure of a myriad of large sporting events from the Premier League to the Australian Grand Prix over fears of the virus spreading among large gatherings of people.
The organisation of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics however is still ongoing.
