I'm 100% with you on this one. The socioeconomic impact of this is tremendous and nobody (read: not enough people) seems to care.
Prevention would be better than intervention, right? You'll still need interventions but preventing people from even getting into this would save a lot of agony, grief and money.
It used to be cigarettes and smoking, then alcohol – now it's sportsbetting. It's the same old story over and over.
I don't buy it that sports cannot survive without this: I'm sure they said the same when it got banned in Formula1 and cricket (two sports famously associated with cigarettes and smoking for many decades).
Very insightful, well-researched and well-written, Johan.
I was in matric when sports betting first came to the fore in south africa. I, like many of my friends, actually downloaded one of the apps and placed a few bets. It was incredibly straightforward to sign up, I don’t recall there being any warnings or checks of any kind (if anything, we were incentivised through free bets and the like)… again, for a matric kid, probably barely 18 at the time (if that).
By God’s grace, I never got into it, but I understand how easy it is to get caught in the net. More needs to be done to prevent this! Thank you for bringing this up. A very important conversation that we need to have as a country
It's what the National Gambling Board reports. So either they have it wrong, or it is correct! (Note: it is spending, and you can spend your winnings again and again, so not directly comparable to GDP...)
Also worth investigating, is what % of income, from people ( in many rural areas) who convert cash into digital money/wallets ( at Spaza shops) is spent on sport/game betting. A birdie said it's as much as 10 %. The hockey stick curve in the uptake is obvious and clear.
Incredible mind blowing piece. I wish this would get the attention of mainstream media.
Recently there were images of Betway advertisements in Home affairs that caused a public outcry. Someone then connected the dots; The owner of Betway also happens to be the funder of the Democratic Alliance who head the Department of Home affairs.
This entire phenomenon is deliberate. There are more sports betting sites in Townships than public parks. Lets not even talk about the accessibility exacerbated online. Its truly horrifying.
Ridiculous and embarrassing that on the international stage in the URC, the sharks rugby team is called “the Hollywood bets Sharks”. Not singling them out in particular but it’s the one I thought of off the top of my head. The ownership and players should be ashamed to promote such a destructive industry.
Ridiculous and embarrassing that on the international stage in the URC, the sharks rugby team is called “the Hollywood bets Sharks”. Not singling them out in particular but it’s the one I thought of off the top of my head. The ownership and players should be ashamed to promote such a destructive industry.
Ridiculous and embarrassing that on the international stage in the URC, the sharks rugby team is called “the Hollywood bets Sharks”. Not singling them out in particular but it’s the one I thought of off the top of my head. The ownership and players should be ashamed to promote such a destructive industry.
I'm 100% with you on this one. The socioeconomic impact of this is tremendous and nobody (read: not enough people) seems to care.
Prevention would be better than intervention, right? You'll still need interventions but preventing people from even getting into this would save a lot of agony, grief and money.
It used to be cigarettes and smoking, then alcohol – now it's sportsbetting. It's the same old story over and over.
I don't buy it that sports cannot survive without this: I'm sure they said the same when it got banned in Formula1 and cricket (two sports famously associated with cigarettes and smoking for many decades).
Legislation worked pretty well in that case.
Very insightful, well-researched and well-written, Johan.
I was in matric when sports betting first came to the fore in south africa. I, like many of my friends, actually downloaded one of the apps and placed a few bets. It was incredibly straightforward to sign up, I don’t recall there being any warnings or checks of any kind (if anything, we were incentivised through free bets and the like)… again, for a matric kid, probably barely 18 at the time (if that).
By God’s grace, I never got into it, but I understand how easy it is to get caught in the net. More needs to be done to prevent this! Thank you for bringing this up. A very important conversation that we need to have as a country
R1 trillion on sports betting is bind blowing!
i find it hard to believe - that would be almost 15% of GDP; impossible right?
It's what the National Gambling Board reports. So either they have it wrong, or it is correct! (Note: it is spending, and you can spend your winnings again and again, so not directly comparable to GDP...)
Also worth investigating, is what % of income, from people ( in many rural areas) who convert cash into digital money/wallets ( at Spaza shops) is spent on sport/game betting. A birdie said it's as much as 10 %. The hockey stick curve in the uptake is obvious and clear.
Incredible mind blowing piece. I wish this would get the attention of mainstream media.
Recently there were images of Betway advertisements in Home affairs that caused a public outcry. Someone then connected the dots; The owner of Betway also happens to be the funder of the Democratic Alliance who head the Department of Home affairs.
This entire phenomenon is deliberate. There are more sports betting sites in Townships than public parks. Lets not even talk about the accessibility exacerbated online. Its truly horrifying.
Great article.
Ridiculous and embarrassing that on the international stage in the URC, the sharks rugby team is called “the Hollywood bets Sharks”. Not singling them out in particular but it’s the one I thought of off the top of my head. The ownership and players should be ashamed to promote such a destructive industry.
Great article.
Ridiculous and embarrassing that on the international stage in the URC, the sharks rugby team is called “the Hollywood bets Sharks”. Not singling them out in particular but it’s the one I thought of off the top of my head. The ownership and players should be ashamed to promote such a destructive industry.
Great article.
Ridiculous and embarrassing that on the international stage in the URC, the sharks rugby team is called “the Hollywood bets Sharks”. Not singling them out in particular but it’s the one I thought of off the top of my head. The ownership and players should be ashamed to promote such a destructive industry.
More evidence that poverty is a choice.
Very interesting, Johan. A serious problem. What’s the source for these figures?
They are from the National Gambling Board, Keith. It took some effort to collate over multiple years.