Sport betting shakes fans’ loyalty
Mqondisi Dube | Friday September 5, 2025 12:05
Traditionally the fans’ lines have never been blurred. Either you are Liverpool or Manchester United, Orlando Pirates or Kaizer Chiefs, or Township Rollers or Gaborone United.
But thanks to the rapidly growing sport betting industry, the lines are now narrower, with room to switch allegiance during a match. It now depends on where your money is, with loyalty temporarily, or in some extreme cases, permanently thrown out of the window.
Sport betting now dictates where loyalty lies – it might start off as a temporary 90-minute fling, but the effects could be everlasting with gambling in matches here to stay.
Once a fan places a bet against their team, for the duration of the match, they fervently support the opponent.
They will curse and swear against their own team in favour of a sworn enemy. That is how the lines are being erased as the impact of online sport betting takes root. The concern around sport betting is not only on potential loss of money, health, and addiction, but it has crossed over to tear apart loyalty lines.
Whilst fans will argue ‘I am Manchester United until I die’ once they enter the sport betting space, that stance changes, even if it is temporary. Without betting, fans will not root for opposite teams except in rivalry situations where they temporarily support another team to spite their blood rivals. Other than testing loyalty, sport betting is always altering the way fans watch games. It is now more about the statistic or whichever component a punter placed their bet on. Instead of being engaged holistically, a fan might be interested in only the number of shots of target Matheus Cunha will take or the number of corners Arsenal will have. Betting has inadvertently introduced new patterns of how fans watch the game. Once a team has achieved the gambler’s target, fans are bound to leave the match, focus on cashing out, or shift to another sport where they have also placed a bet.
Sport betting has already brought challenges for players who have been caught on the wrong side of effectively influencing bets, another headache for the sport. However, sport betting has become a money-spinning industry, with some of the income ploughed back to sports.
Total wagers reportedly soared from $4.9 billion (P70 billion) in 2017 to $121.1 billion (P1.742 trillion) in 2023, with online platforms dominating the market.
In Botswana, regulations have been developed for officials and players in order to protect the game that is ‘under-siege’ from an unstoppable phenomenon, and is altering fan behaviour.