Retired SA sport stars to start in Betway's 12th man

Officially launched on Tuesday, 18 June in Johannesburg at a glittering event attended by some of South Africa’s most prominent sporting greats, the second season of Betway’s unique offering to retired athletes makes an exciting return, following the phenomenally successful inaugural edition in 2019.

Season two of the Betway 12th Man will see the globally acclaimed sport and online gaming brand embarking on a life-changing four-month journey with 12 retired athletes from across South Africa, representing a wide spectrum of sporting codes such as football, rugby, netball, boxing, mixed martial arts, and canoeing.

As with this programme, Betway covers a wide variety of sport on its website. You can create an account and get a welcome bonus by using our promo code.

This introduction of various sporting codes forms part of several exciting additions by Betway in their refined offering to the programme. To encourage information exchange from retired athletes from diverse backgrounds, while also exposing the participants to exciting ventures that exist outside of their respective sporting disciplines.

In addition to widening the pool of participants, the programme’s re-packaged contents will have a strong focus on Business Development, with the sole purpose of guiding the participants with practical steps of breaking into the ever-evolving industry of Sport Management, Business, Sponsorship, Media, Sales and Marketing amongst other key subjects.

The Betway 12th Man participants also have an opportunity to enter a competition where they stand to win capital funding for their specific business ideas. The participants will be paired up with mentors over a four-month period, who will guide them along the journey leading up to the business presentation in the final month of the programme. The process leading up to the final presentation will be to provide the participants with the necessary skills to polish their pitch. They will present their business ideas to a panel of judges who will then assess the participant's business case.

The programme will launch in June and run through September, featuring monthly in-person workshops in Johannesburg led by well-known internationally acclaimed speakers and facilitators. A select group of retired South African sports legends will also be invited to share insights into their different experiences of transitioning into retirement.

Sharing his enthusiasm about the second season of the programme, Betway South Africa, Head of Marketing, Mark Rowles said the brand was looking forward to rolling out what promises to be yet another impactful season of the Betway 12th Man campaign.

“The Betway 12th Man is one of the many programmes dear to the Betway brand. As a brand that has proudly positioned itself as caring and empathetic to the communities that we operate in, the return of such an impactful initiative underscores Betway’s commitment to giving back and playing an active role in contributing to the sport, both on and off the field,” said Rowles.

“We have invested a significant amount of time and resources into putting together a programme that is credible, impactful and life-changing as a token of appreciation to these sporting icons, who have sacrificed so much in exchange for our entertainment over the years. We look forward to a successful and memorable Betway 12th Man season,” he added.

Echoing Rowles’ sentiments was Betway brand ambassador, Lucas Radebe who was amongst the invited Betway ambassadors that included Simphiwe Dludlu, Jean de Villiers and Siphiwe Tshabalala.

“It is an absolute honour to be part of a brand that establishes such care for retired athletes. Many athletes are in desperate need of such guidance and assistance. It is encouraging to have forward-thinking brands such as Betway, spearheading life-changing initiatives which I believe will go a long way in helping retired athletes re-invent themselves in society,” said Radebe.

The first workshop officially gets underway on Wednesday, 19 June with Personal Mastery being the theme that headlines a number of key topics over the two-day workshop.

Betway 12th Man Season 2 Participants: