The Betway Effect: Big Money, Bigger Problems in South African Football

When Betway took over as headline sponsor of the Premier Soccer League in June 2024, it was billed as “ground-breaking”. An R900 million, 3-year deal renamed South Africa’s top flight the Betway Premiership — the largest sponsorship in African football history. 18 months later, the partnership has brought money, visibility, and responsible gambling campaigns. It’s also ignited debates over match-fixing fears, player conduct, governance disputes, and whether the league’s soul is for sale. What Betway Changed on the Pitch Betway’s R900m deal dwarfs previous sponsors. The league prize money increased, clubs got bigger grants, and broadcast production improved. As former MultiChoice exec Ntsika Msuthu noted, the deal shows “African sport’s reliance on betting companies” but also Betway’s chance to “activate through content creation and digital engagement”. Betway and the PSL launched National Responsible Gambling Month in November 2024. At PSL HQ, Chairman Dr. Irvin Khoza, Betway CEO Laurence Michel, and the SA Responsible Gambling Foundation made a “joint plea to fans to exercise precaution”. The PSL compliance manual now bans all registered players/staff from betting. Names are sent to Betway’s database. “You are not allowed to do that. If you are registered with the Premier League, you are not allowed to go out and bet” — Mato Madlala, Acting PSL CEO. Penalty: Up to R2 million fine. This followed an incident with Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Sipho Chaine in May 2023, caught on video joking about EPL bets. The Controversies Since Betway Arrived Ahead of the 2024/25 Betway Premiership kickoff, Betway Head of Marketing Mark Rowles addressed the elephant in the room: what if players bet? The fear wasn’t hypothetical. In May 2023, a video surfaced of Pirates’ Sipho Chaine and teammates joking about placing an EPL bet. Pirates claimed he didn’t bet, but the clip went viral. Betway’s response: “We’ve already got the database of the entire football ecosystem to make sure that those people aren’t betting with us”. All clubs were briefed. Still, critics argue the optics are bad: “concerns have been raised about the integrity of matches being potentially compromised”. Betway knows the suspicion. “We get a lot of customers who see an 89th-minute goal and say, ‘That’s match-fixing’. Unfortunately, we have nothing to do with those games. If anything, we often lose because of those last-minute goals” — Mark Rowles. To counter, the PSL stressed its compliance manual: every registered person’s details are with Betway to block bets. But with R420 billion wagered on sport in SA annually, trust remains fragile. The Mutí Silence — Soweto Derby Chaos April 2025: A Soweto Derby descended into chaos with “boxing hooks and flying kicks” as officials performed mutí rituals on the pitch. Players were “caught in the middle”.The SA Football Players Union demanded action. The PSL and clubs stayed silent. Critics asked: if Betway money professionalized the league, why no statement on player safety? The union noted mutí is cultural, but “the silence from the clubs and the PSL is alarming”. The match ended 0-0, prompting the quip: “perhaps they were both using the same concoctions?” Former Bafana striker Dino Ndlovu, back from 13 years abroad, slammed the league saying “The league is growing financially but other football clubs still don’t want to pay players, they pay players peanuts… That’s why you see there’s a huge gap from three teams in the PSL.” He warned the PSL will be a “one-horse race for 6, 7 years” unless money trickles down. Sundowns invest; others don’t.Meanwhile, fans complain of a “goal drought”: 3 of 5 matches in one weekend ended 0-0. “The lack of goals detracts from the game’s appeal and that’s why crowd attendances are far from what it should be”. Betway Changed the PSL ,But Didn’t Solve It So Betway made the league better on the aspects of money, production, responsible gambling visibility, clear rules on player betting.Critics say there are aspects that haven't changed or even got worse like same governance fights, same pay gaps, same goal droughts, same silence on cultural issues like mutí. As Mato Madlala said: “The partnership is poised to bring significant financial benefits… also places a spotlight on the broader implications of betting companies’ involvement in sports — a subject that continues to provoke global debate”.[but] The Betway Premiership is richer, slicker, and more scrutinized than ever. Whether it’s healthier is still 0-0 after 90 minutes.