Titans CEO mulls moral dilemma of sports betting money

Titans CEO Jacques Faul says sport is confronted with the moral dilemma of its growing dependence on lucrative sponsorship deals from betting and gambling companies.

Betting companies are aggressively sponsoring and advertising in sports, leading to activists, rights groups and some parliamentarians calling for urgent reforms.

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) and its Betway Premiership; Bafana Bafana; PSL clubs Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, Golden Arrows and Siwelele FC; the Proteas; Springboks and Netball Proteas are among those that are sponsored or have corporate partnerships with betting companies.

RISE Mzansi MP Makashule Gana is one prominent South African political figure calling for reforms in gambling and betting sponsorships to protect citizens from the addiction and financial ruin that can accompany the industry.

According to a report by Business Times last year, the number of distressed gamblers seeking help soared sixfold in 2024 as South Africans spent more than R4bn a day on gambling, while gaming platforms raked in R75bn in gross revenue.

The industry generated turnover of R1.5-trillion in the 2024 financial year, as millions of South Africans took to online and physical betting outlets in the hope of making a quick buck.

Faul, a respected and vastly experienced sports administrator, said there must be be robust discussion on the matter. At the same time he admitted that the reality is that sports need financial input from betting and gambling companies, whose involvement in sponsorships is a global phenomenon.

“Sport is tailor-made for betting companies because you provide a roulette table,” he said, adding there are also issues related to advertising of cigarettes, alcohol, fast food and sugar-based cold drinks.

“Sport provides something they [betting companies and their users] can bet on. Over the years, sport has been dealing with this moral issue. Cigarettes and alcohol have been involved for a long time [in sports sponsorships, until legislation in South Africa banned such deals in 2000/2001] and now it is betting worldwide.

“There is conflict about what is in the public’s best interest. I think gambling and betting are of concern when you look at public welfare in terms of, where do you draw the line?

“We also seek guidance on European legislation, which seems to be ahead of us when it comes to it [legislating betting companies and sports sponsorships]. They are definitely clamping down, but people forget it was Benson and Hedges [as the title sponsor] during the 1992 Cricket World Cup.”

Faul said there is a need for regulation, but sport would suffer a great deal if all sponsorship from betting companies was to be outlawed.

“Fast food and sugary drinks have been around for a long time. If you ask a sports administrator, the worst thing that can happen is if you outlaw this and if you ask any public activist the worst thing is to allow it.

“There is a need to regulate it because I have heard statistics that some of the Sassa [South African Social Security Agency] money goes straight into gambling, and that is scary.

“For a sporting federation, the money that betting and gambling companies bring in does good for us. We pay bursaries with the money, we buy cricket bats and we make sure there is club cricket, but there is a counterbalance.

“I can understand [the viewpoint of] activists and some parliamentarians because their duty is public welfare, but this issue needs robust debate.

There is a need to regulate it because I have heard statistics that some of the Sassa money goes straight into gambling.

—  Dr Jacques Faul

“The country needs sporting facilities and opportunities for the youth, and you don’t want to hurt that too much. Betting is a significant role player now within sport in South Africa.

“We are proud when our national teams do well and they need money for that.”

Faul said sport is a billion-rand industry that employs many people.

“It depends on how you define it. Sport is not just players and sponsorship income, but it’s also about advertising and eventing. There are figures that are thrown around, but [whatever the amount is] it is in the billions. It is maintenance of the stadiums that is included; it’s a lot of money.

“You can just work around how much all the stadiums in South Africa cost to maintain a year. It depends on how you look at it, but it is a lot of money.

“You also have to look at where income or profit lies. It’s not the federations that make the money. It’s like in entertainment, where the actors and singers make money and it should be like that because that’s fair.

“You also have to decide if you include recreational sport. You can imagine how much schools spend on sport. It is a big industry. Sponsorship in itself seems to be becoming more and more an income revenue.

“If you include things like broadcasting money, it is not easy to quantify it. It is bigger than people think. You look at sport and think it is a hobby or recreational. Just including the broadcasting element — how many people work in the field of broadcasting or journalism? It is underestimated in terms of how many people live off it.”