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4 ways sports betting is changing lives of the unemployed youth in Ghana
No opinion about sports betting is ever exclusively without fault, at least, depending which side of the divide you stand.
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This is because, just like any other venture, sports betting has both positive and negative impacts on the lives of individuals.
You are almost certain that no Christian home will welcome the idea, but you can also be sure that no home will reject a son who wins a bet of GHc200,000.
So, no opinion about sports betting is ever exclusively without fault, at least, depending which side of the divide you stand.
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Below are 4 economic benefits (both positive and negative) of sports betting to the unemployed youth:
1. It’s churning talents into money
How many times have you sighted a group of men gathering at a particular corner and screaming at each other, only to reach there and realise they are just bantering about a football game?
Now, with the advent of sports betting, the youth (unemployed ones in this instance) no longer have to waste their energies just debating about which player or team is better; they can actually go ahead to bet and make some money out of it.
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What this point is aiming at is that, sports betting has been a beneficial venture for those who have very good analytic and predictive skills when it comes to games. A keen observation will tell you that those whose boast such talents are almost always walking to cash in their bet slips. It’s simply talents being churned into money.
2. It’s creating a society of lazy youth
As stated earlier, sports betting has both positive and negative impacts on individuals. Unfortunately, one of the biggest negatives is the fact that it serves as a catalyst to breed lazy youth in the society.
Ghana’s high unemployment levels mean that the youth are increasingly looking for any avenue at all to make money. Such a situation pushes most of them into sports betting, which they find very hard to get out of.
Now, the problem with it is that, once people realise they can make money by just predicting the score lines of games, they tend to take it as a job. And, it is very likely to give birth to a generation of lazy youth who would prefer betting than working to make money.
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3. It’s making increasing the unemployment level in the country
This point is a bit controversial, but the fact is that sports betting tends to indirectly increase the unemployment level in the country.
What many people do not know is that sports betting is addictive. In fact, very addictive, hence it becomes very difficult to stop once you’ve gotten yourself involved. There are those who are so confident in the predictive prowess that they could sell off whatever they own in order to place a bet.
There are also those who use the little they have to place bets. Once they fail to win, it opens another chapter in their lives, a sad one for that matter. Now, these monies could have been used for more beneficial things like starting a small business. If you win, kudos, but if you lose, then it closes an employment gap.
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4. Creating a society of gamblers
The addictiveness of sports betting is so cancerous that it could turn an individual into a gambler. There is nothing wrong with gambling once in a while, but there’s everything wrong with a youth who is a serial gambler.
There are some who have been so consumed by betting that they virtually eat and sleep in the betting centres. A closer observation would make you notice that it’s not just their passion for football that is keeping them there, but because they have become gamblers who cannot let a single game pass without placing a bet.
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