On Saturday 4 April 2020, 4.8 million viewers watched the Virtual Grand National on ITV, raising £2.6m for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).

With the real Randox Health Grand National 2020 cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis, ITV instead broadcast the  Virtual Grand National – a collaboration between Inspired Entertainment and UK Betting and Gaming Council members including Bet365, BetFred, BetVictor, Betway, Flutter Entertainment, GVC Holdings, JenningsBet, Sky Bet, and William Hill.

The virtual horse race featured the same 40 contenders that would have run the real race, and bookies taking wagers donated profits to the NHS to help it fight the COVID-19 pandemic. A £10 bet limit per horse was enforced by operators for the race.

As we reported on Friday, UX, design and software specialists Degree 53 also created a Virtual Grand National sweepstake generator to cater for what has become a nation of remote workers.

In total the race raised £2.6 million for NHS Charities Together, and the Jockey Club has also promised to give 10,000 tickets for next year’s Grand National to NHS workers.

According to ITV, at its peak the virtual race attracted 4.8 million viewers – equating to around 30% of the UK’s national television audience. And, though that was only half the number of viewers of the 2019 Grand National, it was a massive increase over last year’s Virtual Grand National, which only saw 737,000 tune in.

The 2020 Virtual Grand National was won by Potters Corner, with pre-race 5-1 favourite Tiger Roll finishing fourth.

AYO.NEWS says:

Though the popularity of this year’s Virtual Grand National was obviously down to their being no real alternative and the fact it was raising money for the NHS, the event has probably introduced a lot of new punters to the concept of virtual sports.

Its interesting to note that the event also earned the British sports betting industry some brownie points, with even the normally vehemently anti-gambling Guardian writing:

“So it is only fair to report that at a moment of national crisis when we are all in need of diversion, not just on Saturday but probably for many weeks to come, the bookmakers seem to have thought quite carefully about how to approach the Virtual Grand National and the interest it will generate.”

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.