Despite social divisions, sport is extremely popular in South Africa. It appeals to people of all ages and classes. Every country has its primary sports. Soccer and rugby are thus dominant in the United Kingdom, while football and basketball beat all other sports across the United States. The situation is similar to South Africa whose residents prefer certain types of sports over others.
Additionally, sports betting became legal at the start of the new millennium and it has become a huge pastime for local people over the last few years. We’ve created a list of five of the most popular sports South Africans love to bet on with the help of the experts at bettingtips4you.com.
1 – Rugby
If you ask South Africans what is the most popular sport in their country, you will likely hear several distinct answers. Nevertheless, with more than 450,000 registered players, rugby is, by all means, the biggest sport there. The sport played a huge role in the post-apartheid era. The first major sporting international event hosted by South Africa was the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Even though they entered the tournament as heavy underdogs, the South Africans went on to lift the trophy beating New Zealand 15-12 in the final. The popular Springboks have just recently clinched their third world title outclassing England in the 2019 World Cup final in Japan.
Much like the case is with all other sports, match winner, handicap and over/under bets dominate the betting markets field for rugby. You can also back long-term bets and predict the winners of the Six Nations Championships and Rugby World Cup. The more experienced punters fancy the individual players picks as they back a player to score the first try or the total number of tries scored by a certain player. Rugby live streams are very popular in South Africa and local bookmakers use them as a way to attract potential customers.
2 – Cricket
Cricket is the second biggest sport in the country. It is particularly popular among English-speaking whites in South Africa. The South African national cricket team is known as one of the best in the world. The country hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup as well as the maiden World Twenty20 four years later. The South African national team is called the Proteas, a name that came after the country’s national flower. The local cricket team became the first national team with a No 1 rank in the world in each of sport’s three categories.
Local bettors like to wager their money on each of the sport’s three formats (Test Cricket, One Day Cricket and Twenty20 Cricket). Nowadays, most mainstream sportsbooks bring a rich menu of cricket betting markets to the table. The local punters mainly the basic match outcome or series winner market, while the choice may be broadened to the options including leading runscorer, highest opening partnership, the man of the match and number of boundaries.
3 – Football
Even though the national team’s success in football can by no means be paralleled to the one rugby and cricket teams have achieved over the course of history, many consider the world’s most popular sport to be the biggest in South Africa too. More than 2 million local people play football. The sport gained a massive rise in popularity after 2010 when the country hosted the FIFA World Cup. Additionally, South Africa played host to two African Cup of Nations events, one of which they’ve won (in 1996). The national team’s nickname is Bafana Bafana.
The array of football betting markets is enormous in South Africa. Local punters can back anything from the match-winner to the number of corners in a certain game. The domestic Premier League draws plenty of spectators and most of them like to test their football knowledge by placing bets with local bookmakers. Interestingly, the correct score market is usually the most popular betting form in the country. It is easy to understand why since punters can hit big winners with minimum investments.
4 – Cycling
You may be surprised to see cycling on the list, but this particular sport has significantly grown in popularity in domestic circles in the last decade. The country hosts two of the biggest individual-time cycle races in the world. The Cape Town Cycle Tour attracts over 35,000 participants every year.
There are several cycling disciplines people like to bet on. These involve individual pursuits, time trials, omnium, sprints, team sprints and keirins.
5 – Golf
South Africa is known to have some of the best courses in the world and it is no wonder the sport is so popular in the betting circles. The country has given plenty of sport’s stars during the course of history. The list includes Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel.
The most significant golf tournaments take place from March to November. Sports punters thus have plenty of betting possibilities during this period. They usually bet on a tournament winner, but the bookmakers also offer odds for each way betting, first-round leader, top 10 or top 20 finish, top nationality, etc.
