Live Sport Betting in South Africa

Live sports betting is rapidly gaining traction in South Africa, driven by the nation's growing passion for sports and advancements in mobile technology. In the 2023-24 financial year, sports betting was the largest segment of the country's gambling industry, accounting for 60.5% of total gambling revenue. This represented a significant 51.2% increase from the previous year. The accessibility of mobile apps and online platforms, alongside the opportunity for in-play betting, has attracted a new wave of bettors eager to wager on live events. With major bookmakers like Betway and Hollywoodbets leading the market, South African sports fans are increasingly enjoying the thrill of betting on live matches, from local soccer leagues to international tournaments.

In 2023-2024, over ZAR35.91 billion in sports betting revenue was generated, with online betting playing a key role, further highlighting the importance of real-time wagering for many bettors.

Best Live Sports Betting Sites

The top sportsbooks for live betting provide an exciting array of in-play odds, markets and live streaming - here are the greatest live betting sites available to South African punters.

Is live sports betting your thing? Look no further than Betway, my number one live betting site.

• Betway gives you a 100% deposit match of R2000 that instantly doubles the amount of money you have for in-play bets.

• The user-friendly Betway app is a perfect solution for those willing to stake on the go. It offers smooth live betting.

• Betway offers a wide selection of live markets with competitive odds, constantly updated as the actions unfold.

This is where live betting really takes sports wagering to another level. Being in the action of placing your bets throughout the game adds an exhilarating element to the activity that isn't there with pre-match bets. I love how fluidly you can react to events on the field, capitalise on changing dynamics, and use your knowledge of sports to gain an edge. The thrill of calling a correct in-play action is like no other.

The major difference between the two types of bet is that live betting happens once the event has already started, whereas pre-match betting stops once the event starts. While pre-match betting focuses much more on predicting events further in the future, live betting on sports focuses on a much shorter time period. This means that decisions by the sportsbook and the bettors have to be made much more quickly.

One consequence of this is that live sport betting odds can change drastically once the event has begun. With pre-match betting, the odds don't tend to change as much and certainly not over such a short period of time. However, with in live betting, the odds can change on every play and move dramatically.

These rapid changes in the odds can really work in a players' favour. If they see that something game-changing has happened, they can place wagers on events before the sportsbook has readjusted the odds. However, players can also get carried away with live betting. It is easy to think that you have spotted a good bet and rush to put money on it in the heat of the moment, only to realise it wasn't such a good idea after all.

The final step is to sit back and enjoy the game.

🏆 Best Sports for Live Betting

Technological advancements have made live sport betting much more prevalent over the past decade. Increases in computational speeds and the ability to process large amounts of data mean that sportsbooks can calculate odds much faster now than they ever could manually.

Therefore, they can offer many more live bets on fast-paced sports than ever before. This has opened up betting on events that used to move too quickly for live betting. We will take a brief look at a few sports below and explain how live sport betting works in each one of them.

⚽ Soccer Live Betting

Apart from being played over a 90-minute period (with extra time and penalty shootouts in some matches), a traditional soccer match is also a low-scoring and fast-moving sport. Therefore, it is an excellent choice for live betting. A lot can change during a game, and because scores are often low, a single goal can make a big difference to the outcome.

Therefore, the odds can change a great deal while the game is unfolding. Moneyline bets are very popular with soccer games, as bettors can wager on the winners or losers. Bettors also often make prop bets on features like how many goals a certain player will score.

🏀 Basketball Live Betting

This sport offers bettors great opportunities to place live bets. Again, the game is very fast-paced and happens over a relatively short period of time. However, it is different from soccer as it tends to be high scoring. This means that a 10 point lead can disappear very quickly.

So, bettors can take advantage of these changes and find good odds. Bettors frequently use moneyline and prop bets in this sport. Another bet often used in basketball is the over/under, because the scores can be high, so there is more margin for estimating a score than in a low-scoring game.

🥊 UFC Live Betting

Not for the faint-hearted, UFC is a combat sport. It is totally dependent on the skills and resilience of each fighter. The best live sports betting sites will carry a broad selection of live bets on UFC matches, as there is so much action in each one. In fact, a fighter can be knocked out with one punch, or it can be obvious if one person is becoming tired. So, these matches lend themselves to live moneylines, props and over/unders.

🏏 Cricket Live Betting

This sport has been around for centuries and is played worldwide. In its classic form during a Test Match, cricket is played over a 5-day period. However, there are also One-Day Internationals or Twenty20 games that last about four hours.

Cricket is a wonderful sport for online live sports betting, as there are so many kinds of wagers you can make. Because the match takes place over a longer period, bettors can create more unusual bets like parlays. This is a combination of bets, where all wagers must be predicted correctly for the bettor to win.

🕹 Virtual and Esport Live Betting

Esports are multiplayer video games that are usually played between professionals. They are broadcast live to allow the spectators to watch the action in real time. Betting on these games and tournaments is very similar to betting on traditional sports. Classic virtual sports betting live can be standard moneylines on who will win the tournament or over/under on the number of kills a player will make.

Other Popular Sports

Live betting can be an exciting way to add even more enjoyment to watching a game. It can also be lucrative if you have in-depth knowledge of the sport and understand the odds.

More and more sportsbooks are offering an increasing number of online live sports betting. The sportsbook is always looking to attract players, so if they think there is a market for a certain type of bet, they will offer it to bettors.

📱 Live Sports Betting With Apps

Nowadays, many bettors access betting sites from their mobile phones. They enjoy the convenience of being able to login in and make a quick wager without having to sit at a computer or go into a betting shop. A live sports betting app will allow bettors to use their phones in the most efficient way. They are designed to work well on phones, therefore it can be better than visiting the website.

All betting involves an element of strategy and live betting is no different. Live sport betting strategy is about making betting work in your favour. Let's take a quick look at some of best live sports betting tips:

1. Research the game beforehand.
2. Pinpoint the bets you're interested in before the event starts.
3. Look for bonuses and other methods to hedge your bets.
4. Only bet on games you are watching live.

• Sports betting boom in South Africa (Daily Investor)​(iGB)