Sports Betting Among Students of Colleges of Education in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

Abstract

Sports betting has recently become prevalent among students in institution of higher learning. Most students spend substantial amount of their time engaging in sports betting. The purpose of the study was to examine sports betting among students at colleges of education in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The descriptive survey design was used for the study. The target population was students in colleges of education in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The simple random sampling procedure was employed to select 361 students for the study. Questionnaire was used for data collection. The Cronbach’s coefficient alpha for the questionnaire was 0.73. Frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations were used to analyse data to answer three research questions that guided the study. The results showed that students patronised IXBet, EaziBet, EuroBet, SoccerCash [NLA] and Safari. It was found that, to a great extent, students agreed that their involvement in sports betting was low. Students reported that they engaged in sports betting to win cash and for entertainment. It was concluded that sports betting appeared more attractive to students since they offered free bonuses for placing bets. It was recommended that Guidance and Counselling Units on Colleges of Education campuses organise programmes to educate students on the types of sports betting available in the market and what they truly seek to offer clients. The Government and Conference of Principals of Colleges of Education (PRINCOF) should develop socially responsible regulations and statutes on sports betting that have the potential of discouraging students’ involvement in the practice.