My Bankable Hobby

Since I was little, the one thing I could do from morning till night without getting tired or bored is football. Yeah, that sport where two groups kick a round object at a frantic pace. Growing up, football was like a religion - though I developed a serious interest in playing tennis at some point. The triumphant display where Kanu led the country to her first Olympic gold in football only heightened the interest.

My teenage years coincided with the booming interest in European football leagues in my locality. With some of our national team players doing well in the English Premier League it automatically became the league of choice for most football lovers down here. So, asides the fact that we'd spent hours playing football, we'd also get home to fervently argue about our favourite football clubs and their players. We just never get tired of football.

So, to answer the prompt, yes, I do have a hobby, and that's football. That's because football is probably the only interest I pursue on a daily basis for pleasure and relaxation and not as any form of occupation. When I wake up in the morning, the first websites I open are that of SkySports, BBC, and ESPN. After getting my fill of football related stuff like Paper Talk, transfer activity and analysis, then l move on to other things.

Football at the highest level is all about money, a lot of money. So if one is lucky enough to get to the top, good money is definitely made. However, I believe less than 1 % of people involved in football make it to the top. Thus, the chances are slim. To balance that up football betting sites filled the void. Though football betting always has a fractious relationship with morality and religion, the fact remains that a lot of people made money off their interest in football by doing that. In fact, I've done that a couple of times too.

Asides betting, another means of making money off football is by writing sports articles on supported sites or blogs. When Noise.Cash was in full swing 85% of my discussions were on football related matters. And for that, I was getting far more than the monthly minimum wage in my country as tips. Before I joined Hive Learners most of my posts on the Hive blockchain are sports related. And I can confirm that the tips gotten has been withdrawn at one point or the other to tackle urgent financial needs. So, my hobby does make me money.

About longevity, one thing I'd like to emphasize is that the first time I staked money on a football game was back in 2009 with NairaBet. They were the only functioning ones in my country then. 14 years on and we've had more than 10 betting sites, some packed up while new ones are springing up on a regular basis. Safe to say sports betting is here to stay. If you are the type that's confident in your ability to make money off it on a regular basis, yes, it can be done for a long time, and it is quite easy.

And if you're a good sports writer, you'll always find a platform that's willing to pay you for your skill though the pay may not be handsome. But then, getting paid to do what you would've done for free is quite awesome. No matter how little the pay may be, it's more or less a bonus.

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