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Betting in Kenya has grown hugely in the past few years, bolstered by the popularity of sports betting and the ease of access to mobile betting applications in the country, and with the growth has come both success and controversy. Following the suspension of operations of several betting companies by the Government, GeoPoll and Ipsos are pleased to release a new joint report on the reactions to the changes in the betting sector and the impact that these regulations are predicted to have on the industry. The survey was conducted with 683 Kenyans aware of the Government’s suspensions, via SMS from July 12th – 14th.
Among other findings available in the full report, which can be downloaded for free here, the study finds that the suspension will have a large impact on the media industry, which has benefited previously from advertisements from betting – following the suspension it is estimated that the media industry will lose 10% of 2019 advertising expenditure, equivalent to a loss of KES 14 billion.
We also find that the majority of those aware of the betting suspension are bettors, a natural conclusion given the amount of press coverage around the suspension and the effect the changes will have on those who have been gambling regularly. The study finds that 73% of Kenyans that are aware of the suspension are bettors and that a majority are unhappy regarding the suspension. We also find that, while 40% plan to save the money they have been using to bet, 60% still intend to spend it elsewhere, on other items or other betting channels.
As GeoPoll has reported on previously, football betting is the most popular type of betting in Kenya, and tournaments including the World Cup and AFCON bring in large amounts of betting activity. This report finds that a majority of respondents plan to continue watching AFCON, which will be completed with the final between Senegal and Algeria on July 19th, and the English Premier League, however, 18% and 19% will stop watching the respective tournaments following the suspension.
The full report, which includes detailed insights on the suspension’s effect on the advertising industry, as well as demographic profiles of those aware of the suspension and more in-depth analysis, is available for download for free here.