Love Of Sports Or Love Of Gambling? This Is How Much Nigerians Spend On Sports Betting Everyday

Long before anyone thought to incentivize the country’s passion for sports, Nigerians have always been avid lovers of sports. 

In a nation that is prone to divisions along various ethnic and sociopolitical lines, sports has, in many ways, been the singular unifying factor for several years — causing the country’s hundreds of millions of people to set aside their differences, suspend hostilities and cheer in one voice for both club and country.

From football and basketball to tennis and boxing, millions of sports fans can be found cheering on a game day, or perhaps engaged in banter like they do every other day.

And so when someone thought to give sports fans something extra to cheer for by rewarding their passion for sports with cash wins through sports betting, the foundations for a mammoth industry were laid. Now it’s official that Nigerians spend over NGN 730 Bn (USD 2 Bn) annually on sports betting and at least NGN 2 Bn (USD 5.4 Mn) is generated daily. This is according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria.

The Data also revealed that over 60 million Nigerian punters spend over NGN 3 K daily placing bets across, at least, 50 sports betting sites in Nigeria, with the number growing annually.

Respondents, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday, said they placed bets to generate quick and easy income, and turn their passion for football into cash.

The research data show that over 14 million bet stakes and payments are made online in Nigeria every day. This, however, does not affect the rate of teeming punters at offline, physical bet shops.

The report from NAN also suggested that Nigeria’s leading betting platform, Bet9ja, stepped up its advertising by sponsoring the ongoing popular Nigerian reality TV show, Big Brother Naija, currently in its fourth season.

This season tagged; “Pepper Dem”, designs games where housemates win Bet9ja coins with which they can purchase favours. Meanwhile, outside the house, fans are encouraged to place bets using the links of the housemates that were introduced into the show to support their favourite housemates.

Featured Image Courtesy: guardian.ng