This study specifically examines the Catholic youths within Ota deanery of Abeokuta Diocese, Nigeria, focusing on determining the prevalence of sports betting
and identifying the factors that propel these individuals towards betting activities. Anchored on Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the research
adopts a mixed-methods sequential design. To this end, a simple random sample of 331 participants was drawn from a broader target demographic of 1,918 youths
for the quantitative strand, while a purposive sample consisting of 4 Youths, 3 Priests, and 2 Parents was selected for qualitative interviews, resulting in a
comprehensive sample size of 340. The quantitative data was analyzed descriptively, while qualitative responses were examined for thematic patterns and
synthesized into narratives through thematic analysis Findings from the study revealed that a significant 69% of the surveyed population engage in sports betting,
with around 15% exhibiting behaviors indicative of problem betting. This research elucidates the scale of sports betting activities among Catholic youths in Ota
Deanery and unveils the underlying motivations driving their engagement, leveraging the conceptual lens of SDT’s fundamentals of autonomy, competence, and
relatedness to navigate the complexities of youth sports betting.