Sports Betting Continuing to Rise in Popularity in Nigeria
Nigeria, like so many nations, remains as sport obsessed as ever, with huge matches and fixtures continuing to dominate the social calendar within the country. In addition, the popularity of sports betting the world over has forced its way into Nigerian culture too, with a 2020 survey ascertaining that an estimated 60 million Nigerians actively place bets on sporting events every year.
According to Match.Center Nigeria, many bookmakers operating in the country offer to bet on both domestic sporting events the international profile of which is growing slowly, and on sporting events across the globe which still accumulate the majority of the sports betting activity that takes place in Nigeria.
With a population of over 200 million people, Nigeria has long been a sport-obsessed nation and the advent of sports betting in the country is developing exponentially. As an industry, sports betting has boomed worldwide since the start of the 2000s and the introduction of official gambling legislation within Nigeria has seen the two worlds dovetail over the subsequent decades.
With Nigeria becoming an African sport betting superpower, here is a rundown of the rise of sports betting in Nigeria:
Nigerian Sports Gambling Legalisation
Compared to many other African countries, Nigeria has often been seen as a trailblazer in the sports betting industry and the introduction of government imposed legislation has been integral to the success of the sector. Legal gambling activities in Nigeria are the lottery, casino betting and sports betting – all of which is monitored by the Nigerian National Lottery Regulatory Commission.
Inevitably, legitimising sports betting within a country doesn't mean all gamblers are able to avoid unlicensed operations in Nigeria but having a governing body working in the interests of both the bookmaker and the gambler has revolutionised the way in which sports gambling has been received in the country.
Whilst there are plenty of imitators on the market that do create problems for gamblers in Nigeria, there are over 40 different online sportsbooks on the market in Nigeria all competing and vying for custom in an ever more congested sports marketplace in the country. At Match.Center, a platform that analyses bookmakers' operation, their betting offers, pros and cons, you will find a lot of useful betting information about sportsbooks working in Nigeria.
Punters are always recommended to look out for the Nigerian National Lottery Regulatory Commission number on any sportsbook website, to ensure that they are betting with a Bonafede Nigerian betting company. Once that box is ticked, there are a plethora of sports betting options out there for Nigerian punters to indulge in.
Market Variety
In comparison to some other countries across the world, there is not a huge amount of professional sporting competition in Nigeria but that does not hold the array of sports betting markets available to punters with Nigerian sportsbooks.
Like many neighbouring African nations, football is the number one sport, with both domestic and international leagues and fixtures dominating the betting calendar, for all levels of punter. That said, plenty of other sports have jostled for traction with punters in Nigeria and being able to bet on sport has had a direct impact on the social awareness of sports such as tennis and basketball in Nigeria.
Consequently, the sports betting variety within the marketplace in Nigeria has boomed and here are the key sports on offer with most sportsbooks:
Football
The Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) is an emerging league within Africa and whilst the financial constraints of the league continue to inhibit the international impact of the competition, there are plenty of matches for punters to get stuck into.
Having not qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, all eyes will once again be on the African Cup of Nations in 2024 for Nigeria and the public pressure on the Nigerian national team remains as profligate as ever within the country.
Outside of Nigeria, key worldwide competitions such as the English Premier League and the Spanish Serie A dominate the sporting markets available to punters in Nigeria, both within in-play and ante-post betting markets.
Tennis
Whilst not a sport that is often synonymous with Nigeria in any way, tennis betting within the Nigerian sportsbook fraternity has developed hugely within the online sports betting sphere. From the huge international Grand Slam events and competitions on the ATP and WTA Tour to the ITF Challenger and Junior circuits, punters in Nigeria have plenty of betting markets they can access within the tennis sphere.
Basketball
In a similar vein, basketball has developed into a key sporting offering for Nigerian sportsbooks, in a relatively short space of time. Nigerian basketball is slowly taking hold domestically, with a couple of emerging betting markets but it is once again international betting offerings that appeal to punters in the country. The NBA and WNBA in America always attract plenty of punters, whilst European and Australian basketball leagues also provide punters with an opportunity to bet on basketball in Nigeria.
Live Streaming and Live Betting in Nigeria
Nigeria's relative infancy within the sports betting industry is perhaps shown by the lack of live streaming opportunities available across most Nigerian sportsbooks. Inevitably, in such a fast-growing marketplace, live streaming will come to Nigeria in due course but as it currently stands, many sportsbooks have been slow on the uptake.
Experts have anticipated that live streaming will soon be available across the board in Nigeria, following suit with the live betting revolution in the country. Very quickly, live betting has become the norm in Nigeria, with more sportsbooks than ever now offering live betting options to their punters, across a range of sports.
Being able to access in-play betting odds, opens up a whole world of possibility to bettors and it has been embraced wholeheartedly by Nigerian punters, regardless of their betting aspirations.
The popularity of sport in Nigeria and particularly sports betting in the country has never been so accessible or so sought after and with almost 1 in 4 Nigerians currently active on sports betting websites in the country, the growth of sports betting in Nigeria is showing no sign of slowing.
This article originally appeared on All Africa
Image: CAF Online