Online virtuals ticket sales have seen significant growth during the coronavirus pandemic, as sports bettors look towards the vertical as a substitute for traditional sports betting, according to Golden Race CEO Martin Wachter.

Speaking during AffiliateCon Virtually Live this week, Wachter explained why operators are turning towards the vertical.

"We asked some of our clients for their opinion on virtual sports," the CEO of the virtuals supplier commented. "All of them together say that it has turned into a very important source of revenue.

"It is very important at this stage because it is the closest substitute for a real sportsbook. They see a lot of possibilities and growth in this area.

"I found some statistics online and, in terms of average players, virtual sports has increased by 206% as a result of the impact of COVID-19."

Although the sale of retail tickets for virtual sports has decreased during the crisis as a result of the closure of betting shops, Golden Race has seen significant growth in the sale of online tickets since January.

Wachter explained: "January was quite okay, and then we had growth in February and March. We saw a big move from retail to online and then in April we saw more growth.

"From January to April we saw growth by more than 220% in online ticket sales.

"We expect this to grow more because up until this time we only speak about existing customers but from March until today we signed nearly 130 new operators.

"Most of the clients are not live now but in the next few weeks it might double again with all of this business."