Gaming is an ever-changing industry, where nothing stays the same for a long time. This is especially true in Nigeria, where we have dozens of sportsbooks opening and closing every year.
New regulations are being introduced making the local betting market more appealing for international brands. This is generally a good thing – we see massive investments into the Nigerian economy, more work in a profitable industry and obviously more variety for sports fans.
Having said that – a larger variety also makes it difficult to make a decision and not knowing what exactly you are looking for doesn’t make it easier.
We are going to list several things, which we believe are crucial to any worthwhile service, not just betting.
The order doesn’t relate with the importance of each point, because at the end of the day, we might all be looking for something different.
Mobile Optimization
Mobile optimization is no doubt one of the most crucial things, at least as far as we can tell.
A sportsbook operator, who doesn’t pay enough attention to how their service works on mobile devices is just not doing a good enough job.
You are likely reading this article on your phone and if you find it useful, you will send it to a buddy, who will also read it on his phone.
There are also numbers to why we believe this to be an extremely important thing – almost 50% of all Nigerians have mobile devices with internet access. And according to recent reports, the number is expected to grow at least 10% in the next 4 years.
Most betting operators are fully aware of the fact that they have to make an emphasis on mobile optimization. Some bookmakers go even further – they develop dedicated apps or have “lite” versions of their websites for older and outdated devices.
A good example of a website like that would be Betbiga. They have a “full” version of their website, which most relatively modern can handle without any issues, and a “lite” version, which has limited functionality but can be used with an outdated device.
The full version has everything the desktop website has and in some cases maybe even more, while the lite version is limited in its functionality, but still has most things you might need on a daily basis.
Obviously, there are other operators like that – we are just bringing this to your attention. If you are having difficulties betting somewhere because your phone can’t handle it, it might be a good time to check what other bookmakers are out there.
Regulators and Licenses
The next point we would like to cover is regulation. Nigeria used to be the wild west when it comes to regulation, however, things are not the same now.
We have several major regulatory bodies, which cover online and land-based betting businesses. When you open a betting website, usually their footer should have an indication of what licenses they hold.
You can then go to the regulator’s website and check everything yourself to make sure the license indeed exists and is still valid. Some bookmakers might hold licenses from several local regulators and that is perfectly fine as long as they are valid.
Accepting wagers from Nigerian players doesn’t explicitly require a local license, so you might see some operators having licenses issued by Maltese and Curacao regulators.
This is generally ok, however, your interests are best protected by local authorities – keep that in mind when using a service, which is regulated by a non-Nigerian regulatory body.
Content Variety
Content variety is, by all means, important, however, the degree to which this is crucial depends on your interests and needs.
If you are primarily interested in betting on bigger sports like football and/or bigger tournaments like the Champions League or the EPL – these are offered on pretty much any of the best bet sites.
The only thing you might be on the lookout for is trying to find one with slightly higher odds.
On the other hand, if you are more interested in niche ports and various smaller and local tournaments – you would need to look for a betting site, where these are available.
Before you go and register somewhere, take a couple of minutes to browse their website as a guest to see if they have what you need. This will save you quite a bit of time, which you would have spent on creating an account otherwise.
Support
Finally, we would like to talk about support – it is often being overlooked, however in reality this is an extremely important part of any service.
No matter how well-built a betting platform is, you will come across an issue sooner or later. Once that happens it is vital to have a qualified and capable team of support representatives to be there for you.
As we mentioned earlier – more and more international operators are moving into Nigeria and our own local bookmakers are also stepping their game up.
Having mentioned that, you can now often see sportsbooks having actual phone support, which was almost non-existent even just a couple of years ago.
Being able to make a call and have your issues solved on the spot is a huge benefit and makes our lives much easier. This is just another thing to look out for – see if the betting site of your choice has phone support.
Play Responsibly
Last, but not least we would like to quickly mention the importance of being responsible with your betting hobby. Don’t forget that this is, first of all, a hobby, something to make your favorite sporting events even more exciting.
Sports betting is not a means to resolve financial difficulties and with all likelihood will only make matters worse.
If you feel that you are losing control of your betting habits or you are no longer in control of them – it might be time to seek assistance.
A place, which we would recommend you to start with is https://www.gamblingtherapy.org/en – they offer free psychological health.
You will be able to speak with a trained professional and take part in group sessions, where you can discuss your issues and emotions with other people. All of this is free and available online.
