Sports betting revives interest in gambling law

What you need to know:

  • Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba said he was the Sport Minister in 2013 who brought the Sports Bill to parliament that contained the mechanism that enable sport betting lotteries. 
  • With alcohol or drugs, family and friends will realise that someone has a problem, due to their physical condition. With gambling, there is nothing apparent.

Last week was quite eventful on the sports betting scene. First, SportPesa signed a deal to be the shirt sponsor of the English Premier League team Hull City AFC, in what was hailed as the largest deal in the team’s history.

Then two days later, they signed a deal with Southampton FC to be their sports betting partner

Last Thursday, when Majority Leader Aden Duale tried to introduce a Betting Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Bill, he was asked to defer the bill by fellow MPs from both sides of Parliament.

The Bill sought, among other things, to tax the gross betting of bookmakers at 7.5 per cent, the gross revenue of lotteries at five per cent, gaming revenue at 12 per cent, and the prize turnover for competitions at 15 per cent.

In concert, they lamented how unregulated sports betting on mobile phones has penetrated all corners of the country and heaped havoc on the lives of many.

Mr Duale himself said that while gambling used to be a preserve of the rich, sports betting had made it accessible to everyone, including lower-income earners.

Other MPs said that some young people were betting away their school fees money, which may have been a factor in the rash of school fires.

Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba said he was the sports minister who, in 2013, brought the Sports Bill to Parliament that contained enabling mechanisms for sports betting. 

But he said that their intention, at the time, was to use lotteries to generate money to improve local sports in Kenya, and not to pay Sh6 billion to soccer teams in England. 

Others went on to question just how much money was in the business and if Kenya was getting its fair share of taxes from the secret betting companies.

Mr Duale eventually withdrew the Bill for reintroduction at a later date, probably after public hearings and additional modifications.

To its credit, SportPesa supports an inordinate amount of sports in Kenya, including Kenya rugby, the Kenya soccer league and its two most prominent teams – Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards.

They are also tipped to become sponsors of the rugby sevens team and the national rally competition.

RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING

Other sports betting and lottery companies have campaigns to support the Kenya Olympic teams and even school sports, though according to Kenyan laws, most students are not eligible to bet.

Sports betting companies all say they encourage responsible betting, but I wonder if some Kenyans have turned them into lifestyles or income opportunities, with dreams of appearing in the newspaper holding million-shilling dummy cheques.

My male cousins in the village are all on sport betting platforms, all placing bets of as little as Sh50 or Sh100.  

They will tell you that they play every week and can remember their greatest wins, whether Sh12,000 or Sh28,000 that was sent to their phones as they slept.

Sports betting is voluntary. If you consider it a vice like alcohol or drugs, it differs from them in one way.

While one is limited by how much he can drink or inhale before getting intoxicated or possibility blacking out, there is nothing to stop someone who is already drowning in gambling losses from throwing on even more cash chasing an elusive winning bet to wipe away past losses.

Also, with alcohol or drugs, family and friends will realise that someone has a problem, due to their physical condition. With gambling, there is nothing apparent.

All betting websites have statements abut responsible gambling which people placing sports bets can ask to see if they are spinning out of control. But is that enough?

If you think you have a problem there are numbers you can call, including one to opt out of the betting platform.

SportPesa's notice in Sunday’s paper stated that the Hull sponsorship is worth three million pounds a year – about Sh400 million at the current exchange rate.

The high visibility SportPesa has gained also raises questions about how other betting companies have gone about their business.

Twitter: @bankelele