Pandemic Ping Pong: Pa. sports fans double down on table tennis during shutdown

Matthew Nelson is a huge sports fan. He started betting on sports online last year. March 12 was the day when the NBA, MLB and NCAA suspended their seasons. Matthew is watching Russian table tennis in the lobby of his apartment building. He and his friends are betting money on table Tennis, darts and other sports. They are trying to keep entertained during the pandemic. The game is broadcast live from Russia. It is entertaining. Nelson didn't have much experience with table Touling. His friends were betting. All his buddies were doing it. “Table Tennis is distraction from the boredom of the Pandemic,” he said.

Pennsylvania betting operators are seeing a spike in bets on Eastern European soccer and table tennis. The state regulators are scrambling to react to the shutdown of mainstream sports. The company that runs the online platforms for Rivers Casino in Philadelphia and Rivers casino Pittsburgh has been running ads and livestreaming the matches. Some bettors find the quality of the live streams of sports games bad. They find it funny. It gives them more confidence to bet on something they are watching in real time. For one student, the game quality is bad, but he finds it hilarious.

Table tennis is enjoying a resurgence during the pandemic. The total amount of money wagered on sports online in Pennsylvania fell by 60% from February to March. Ken Weinstein is the founder of the Trolley Car Table Tennis Club in Northwest Philadelphia. He hopes the sport will draw more people to the club. Matthew Nelson will bet on table tennis when major sports re-open. He plans to play more table Tennis once the stay-at-home order is lifted. It's in his parent's basement. Keystone Crossroads is a statewide reporting collaborative of WITF, WPSU and WESA.