ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on the growing practice of betting on football matches in rural and peri-urban spaces. Gambling on sports has primarily been an urban pursuit in Zimbabwe since the colonial period. This study used in-depth interviews, observation, and informal encounters to explore the emerging patterns of soccer betting in selected parts of rural and peri-urban Zimbabwe. The study was conducted in Domboshava, a peri-urban centre 50 kilometres from Harare’s capital. Emerging findings from the study highlight how the growing influence and access to internet technologies are creating new spaces for the growth of the sports gambling industry. It is essential to highlight how European football fandoms have also been critical in growing the interest in soccer betting. While gambling has a long history in urban Zimbabwe, including informal forms (kubheja (placing a bet), makasa (cards), feja feja (a form of a guessing game), and formal spaces (horse and dog racing, lottery, casinos), rural areas have primarily been unaffected (especially the formal betting). Access to cell phones and satellite television is leading to shifts in access to betting platforms and changes in attitudes towards gambling, especially among the youth.
