All tagged sports

Sports Bettors Have Become Traders, and Stocks Are Rising, But Can It Last?

The coronavirus pandemic and ensuing global lockdown has impacted our lives in more ways than we can imagine. Some of the effects have been quite obvious, such as the transition to online learning for students or the inability to attend large scale events like movies or concerts. Other effects, however, have been less apparent, and are still not yet fully known. Perhaps one of the most novel pieces of fallout from the coronavirus on society within the last few weeks is the migration of gamblers and sports betters into the stock market as more conventional wagering methods remain inaccessible. With sports betting alone being a $150 billion industry in 2019, the shift of much of this money into stocks has had major effects on market behaviors. This wave of bullish sentiment from “entertainment investors” has contributed significantly to the recent rebound of stock indexes like the NASDAQ and the Dow. However, as coronavirus cases and related deaths continue to rise, the gap between stock prices from the overall health of the economy has continued to grow, leading to increased volatility within markets.