Female bettors in Nigeria: A growing trend

By Ayodele Afolabi, Tiwaloluwa Ogunro, Michael Alabi, Daniel Jeremiah

Gambling in Nigeria has long been seen as a male-dominated activity, but that is changing. In a surprising turn of events, the betting industry, which has traditionally been dominated by men, is now seeing a large increase in female participation.

Some factors are responsible for this shift. And the chief of all these is the desire to make quick financial gains. Both men and women engage in betting with the hope of making money; no one engages in betting just for the fun of it. The aim is to make money, and since it’s a ‘stake #100 to win a pot of money scheme’, female bettors are motivated by the need to make fast money like their male counterparts.

A female punter who does not want to be named agrees with this line of reasoning, saying, “Some girls bet because they understand the game and want to make money from it.”

Another reason for this shift is the increased exposure to the internet. As of January 2022, Nigeria accounts for a total population of more than 200 million people, with women accounting for close to 50% of this population. It is a known fact that women make use of the internet and media space more than men. This exposes them to a lot of content, including betting sites with user-friendly interfaces that are always ready to offer a variety of punting services to their patrons. Women engaged in betting activities would have come across these sites several times and taken up the act of betting out of inquisitiveness or positive information from other bettors.

Influence from male counterparts is another factor influencing the rise of female bettors in Nigeria. Most women that took up the act of betting had little or no idea of how to go about anything, from as little as selecting a suitable betting platform to opening an account and so on. Male friends who encourage women to wager on sports by sharing their victories in the past expose them to the game. Women rely on their friends or partners for betting codes, and the friends assist in setting up betting accounts. Punters are female coders who write their own codes. Because there are risks involved, it is important to gamble responsibly.

It may seem odd to hear a girl say, ‘Sporty chop my money yesterday’ or ‘My 1Xbet account has been verified’, but people do believe that as time passes, the rise of female bettors would join the long list of things that people would say ‘nah normal thing’ to.