The burgeoning football betting industry of Nigeria What do the numbers say?

There’s no doubt about the fact that Nigerians are crazy and zealous about football and this craze sometimes leads to people staking their hard-earned money on this game. With the advancements in mobile technology, football betting is as easy as tapping few buttons on your phone. There are several people in Nigeria who have started from placing random office bets and later on transformed their business into a full-grown online gambling platform. Though laymen used to place their bets on their own, gradually they began to move to online sites which offered better options.

Little bit on the statistics – What makes this industry gain momentum?

Of late, the online gambling industry of Nigeria has flourished and there is a change from their physical presence to the online niche thereby increasing the popularity of betting websites like Nairabet, Merrybet and Bet9ja. Thanks to the penetration of online sites through mobile usage along with a young population that is waiting to embrace the influence of technology, that there has been created an excellent base to for the soaring online betting industry.

If asked to quantify this growth and the spurring scope of this industry, it can be difficult. As per the News Agency of Nigeria, in 2014, there were estimates that Nigerians spent 1.9 billion Naira everyday on sports betting. At the same time, there were other heads in the industry that suggested that this figure could even get close to 5 billion Naira.

A report from PwC in the year 2016 said that the industry could grow at a yearly rate of 18% every year and reach $150 million or 45 billion Naira by the time its 2020. If You are interested for best sites You can place bet check viewpointnigeria.com, it has more information. Although there are disputes in the statistics, but the trend is positive. In fact, according to the same report, it is also clear that the sports betting industry of Nigeria will outshine that of South Africa and Kenya thereby creating the biggest betting environment in Nigeria. As Nigeria is going to have 190 million people and 100 million internet users, this fact comes of no surprise.

Mobile phone usage among the young generation

There is no doubt about the fact that the burgeoning online betting industry is partly being fuelled by the rise in the young generation who are inclined towards internet usage. The betting industry of Nigeria has been flexible to cater to the growing demands of the target audience. Mr. Lawson says that the fact that there are plethora of options to bet, whether through mobile or laptop, keeps him coming back for more.

Surprisingly, there are more than 50 betting sites in Nigeria and each of them offer variety of services related to football betting. Starting from the local Nigerian Premier League to the English Premier League, there is always a game to choose and bet on. With the growing demand among the bettors, the online bookmakers are also working on improving the user experience of the websites.

The young middle class population has successfully played the role of a catalyst in improvising the growth of this industry. Through expansion and aggressive marketing, online bookmakers have been able to capture this group with the help of their considerable platform upgrades.

Why do we still bet?

Due to the insatiable urge to earn more, people still bet. Even though bettors are aware that they might lose more than win, they still keep betting. For a single win, there are at least 20 losses and punters don’t stop as they’re sure about a win even after going through 20 losses. As per psychologists, gambling activates the brain’s reward circuit by releasing dopamine which helps us feel good. The narrow losses have a similar impact on the brain and this means that bettors who marginally miss a bet are more eager to try again as compared to people who miss on a wider margin.  While betting we just have to remember to not go full in and bet occasionally keeping the risk low.

The challenges of the betting industry

With the soaring growth of the football betting industry, there are also few challenges. The questionable security of games is one such challenge with the proliferation of online channels. There are too many websites that carry on a large volume of transactions and hence it becomes necessary that they make sure personal data is protected against cyber tapping. Taxation is yet another challenge in this industry as the taxable income is inconsistent and unclear in Nigeria.

What does the future hold for the betting industry?

Experts suggest that the future of online betting industry will be replete with mergers and acquisitions. The NLRC (National Lottery Regulatory Commission) and LSLB (Lagos State Lotteries Board) have successfully issued more than 100 licenses for the betting sites. This means that the market will be full of small players.

The betting industry of Nigeria is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing ones of the economy. Thanks to the rise in football-lovers, this industry will keep growing.