Most Ghanaians from all walks of life have been impacted by sports betting in some way.
Either a family member, ward or friend has benefitted immensely or incurred a big loss in the pursuit of winning.
In 2020, a 16-year-old boy, said to be a betting/gambling addict, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree at Asonomaso in the Kwabre East District of the Ashanti Region.
The deceased, Kwaku Appiah, a form two student of Osei Kyeretwie Senior High School, caused a stir following hot exchanges with his mother over the betting/gambling practice.
The mother was said to have threatened to call the police for his arrest if he would not stop the practice.
Kwaku Appiah was surprisingly found hanging on a tree, dead, behind their house a day after the exchanges.
In April 2021, the Hohoe Circuit Court sentenced a 31-year-old fuel station supervisor to 15 years in jail for stealing GH¢139,118 belonging to his employer.
When the facts were examined in court, it was revealed that he used the money for sports betting but did not win any of the bets to repay the money he took from the company’s coffers.
In a disheartening turn of events in 2022, some students from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) had to defer their courses for non-payment of school fees.
KNUST authorities later discovered that some defaulting students had used their monies for other ventures, such as sports betting.
Every sports bettor wants to win big to compensate for the numerous losses.
Most of them have a mantra, “I want to win millions of cedis, invest in a lucrative business and leave the betting game.”
So, on Saturdays and Sundays, they will mostly move from one betting house to another or from prediction sites to another, looking for favourable odds.
Sports betting takes a lot of time as one has to monitor or watch all the games he’d bet on.
The bettors are almost always angry, mostly on weekends, if games don’t go in their favour.
They will insult players, coaches, and goalkeepers: “I nearly won a thousand cedis today had it not been that stupid coach. All he had to do was to play that player or that player and I would have won the bet. But that silly coach won’t listen. He had to be fired”.
These are just a few of the million cases bettors endure daily in this risky venture.
As they say, you can’t advise a woman in love but trust this, no one advises a man addicted to betting.
However, there have been cases of bettors winning big on their stakes.
One notable big winner in recent years was in 2023 when a Ghanaian sports bettor named De’Barnes made headlines by winning a massive sum of money on Sportybet.
Despite initially having his bet slip deleted by the company for breaking the bank, De’ Barnes turned his fortunes around with just one cedi, winning an impressive GH₵196,093.60 in sports betting.
He took to social media to share his winning slip and odds, inspiring other punters who have been losing money.
Fuseini Siaka, a 36-year-old painter at Barekese, a suburb in Kumasi, won GH¢6 million bet.
He flew in a private jet from the Ashanti Regional capital to Accra to receive the prize.
In February 2023, a Ghanaian recorded the highest winner amount registered at Betway with an amount of GH₵ 1.5 million on a football bet.
These are also a few in-a-million winnings that bettors enjoy after many losses.
According to the latest report on sports betting in Ghana by TGM Research, approximately 41.7% of Ghanaians have engaged in sports betting within the last 12 months.
Of these bettors, 74.17% cited making money as their primary motivation. Over 95% of Ghanaian bettors prefer online betting to physical betting shops.
Ghana is now considered one of the leading sports betting markets in sub-Saharan Africa despite a relatively minor population of just over 30 million.
This is a small number compared to Nigeria’s 200 million, South Africa’s 60 million, and Kenya’s 50 million.
A study conducted by the Baraka Policy Institute (BPI) in selected communities in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, and Tamale on “Effects of Sports Betting on Education and Child Development in Ghana” revealed that sports betting is fast becoming a serious social force against schooling in the country.
If nothing is done about it, it will derail the effort by the government and other non-state actors to ensure every child is in school.
One of the revelations of the BPI research was that children between the ages of 10 and 17 actively engage in sports betting at various betting centres.
Between 2019 and 2022, the government collected GH¢450m in taxes from the gaming industry, making it difficult to tighten regulations because of taxes paid to the state.
The gaming industry accounted for the country’s single largest mobile money sign-ups in 2019, supporting the government’s financial inclusion and digitalisation agenda.
Indeed, the telecommunication companies in Ghana are also making millions of cedis as processor charges from the industry.
In the early 2000s, betting on football matches took the form of trading clothes, food, or electronic gadgets with fans from opposing sides.
Gone are the days when Kotoko and Hearts faced off, and supporters from both sides bet on the match in the aforementioned manner.
However, sports betting has taken a different level, particularly in the last 10 years.
Sports pundits, enthusiasts, and journalists believe that the love and culture of football have influenced sports betting in the country.
Beyond core football lovers, sports betting in Ghana is now a big business.
The sports betting market in Ghana has grown in the past decade alone. Back in 2014, sports betting companies in the country only operated in physical betting shops.
However, the increase in smartphone ownership, improved internet accessibility, and significant advancements in financial inclusion have advanced the operations of betting companies.
Mobile apps and mobile-friendly websites have made it easier for Ghanaians to place bets on their favourite sports events regardless of time and place.
This trend is driven by the convenience and flexibility that mobile betting offers, which allows customers to stay engaged with their bets even on the go.
The Gaming Commission of Ghana (GCG) has been busy regulating the influx of new gambling operators seeking to establish themselves in the country.
Today, there are 31 licensed sports betting operators in Ghana. In just a few years, the number has increased from only 12 licensed companies to 31.
One would agree that adverts promoting the business of one operator or the other have become commonplace – billboards and paraphernalia are everywhere.
Football betting’s massive popularity can be attributed to the growing interest in many football leagues, especially in Europe.
Its business peaks during the various European soccer leagues, especially the English Premier League and the European Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League.
Ghana’s online sports betting market is projected to grow by 5.36% from 2024 to 2029.
This means the market should reach a volume of $39.50 million by 2029.
According to sources within the Ghana Revenue Authority, the government hopes to raise ¢1 billion annually in direct taxes from the gaming industry.
The Ghana Sports Betting Association (GHASBO) has claimed that the gaming industry’s advertising spending in Ghana is conservatively estimated at GHS 200 million annually.
Meanwhile, a new sports betting tax sparked nationwide controversy in August 2023.
The government introduced a 10% withholding tax on betting and lottery winnings.
It is applied at the payout point for all betting, games, and lottery wins.
The regulation aims to mobilise domestic tax revenue and address the country’s economic challenges.
Sports betting companies have also contributed immensely to corporate social responsibility.
They have provided a platform for many people in the sports industry to receive training and rediscover themselves.
In this direction, sports betting operators have provided training to assist some retired footballers and sports personnel in exploring business opportunities after their active sporting careers.
This initiative has helped to discover new talents in the sports industry in Ghana.
Sports betting companies have provided headline sponsorship for at least eight Ghana Premier League teams within the last five years.
The contribution of sports betting to the Ghana economy has been far-reaching.
In 2022, the GFA announced betPawa, a sports betting company, as the official headline sponsor of the Ghana Premier League, but the company later withdrew from its role as the title sponsor of the league just after a year.
Indeed, the time for the gaming industry has come, and the government has taken a keen interest in it.
Sports betting and the casino business are the major players in Ghana’s gaming industry, though sports betting is much more popular and accessible to many Ghanaians.
However, the debate would continue whether the vices should be considered and the industry banned outright or whether stakeholders should look the other way because of the benefits and rather make it thrive.
What is your opinion?
You can share your thoughts and views in the comment section below.