Tolu Shotade | Bets.ng

About Tolu

Tolu Shotade is the founding editor of Bets.ng. He has been a professional sports broadcaster in Nigeria since 2017, working as a presenter and producer at SuperSport and as lead anchor at AfroSport Network. Before that he spent more than four years at freetips.com as the football editor, running a team that published daily previews for English, Italian, German and European World Cup qualifier fixtures. He has anchored live matchdays for the Bundesliga, Serie A and CAF / FIFA qualifiers on Hotsports Nigeria.

Tolu holds a BSc in Electronics and Computer Engineering from Lagos State University. He also leads SEO and editorial standards at Leadstar Media, which is where the Bets.ng project started: a long-running frustration that Nigerian punters didn't have a review site written by Nigerians, checked by Nigerians, and rated against what actually works on OPay, PalmPay and a First Bank USSD code at 9pm on a Saturday.

He lives in Lagos, supports Chelsea, and still gets told off for shouting at the TV during NPFL weekends.

“I've been on Nigerian football TV for nine years. I got tired of reading betting reviews written by people who had never deposited on OPay at midnight.”
— Tolu Shotade

Career

Tolu started his broadcasting career in 2017 as a junior football presenter at SuperSport, fronting highlights packages for the Premier League and a weekly NPFL wrap. By 2019 he had moved to AfroSport Network as the lead anchor for Bundesliga matchdays, a role he still holds. He has called live matchdays on more than 400 top-flight fixtures across four continental broadcasters.

Before broadcasting, Tolu spent four years as the football editor at freetips.com, running a team of eight daily tipsters covering English, Italian, German and European qualifier fixtures. He wrote the freetips accumulator house style and still uses the same rigor here: every pick has a stated value rationale, and losing weeks are published without edit.

At Bets.ng, Tolu owns editorial standards. Every brand review and every big comparison page goes past his desk before it ships. He writes the Monday football preview personally and anchors the in-house weekly podcast (coming soon).

A typical week

Monday: reads the weekend's results, writes the NPFL preview, records the podcast cut
Tuesday: reviews one brand end-to-end (a fresh signup, a deposit, a withdrawal, a support ticket)
Wednesday: fact-checks Emeka's tips card and signs off odds lines
Thursday: calls operator partnerships — every Bets.ng affiliate relationship is personally agreed by Tolu
Friday: live anchor shift at AfroSport Network on the Bundesliga desk
Saturday/Sunday: matchday live-monitors our running picks, takes screenshots of real settlements

Credentials

BSc Electronics and Computer Engineering, Lagos State University (2015)
Nigerian Broadcasting Commission accredited presenter since 2017
CAF accredited matchday media since 2019
Leadstar Media SEO and editorial standards lead (2020 to present)

Off the record

Tolu is a Chelsea fan (to his wife's ongoing disappointment), drives a 2016 Toyota Camry with 180,000 km on it, and refuses to accept any gift from an operator over N5,000 in value. If you see him at the Lagos Continental bar, buy him a Star — it's the only bribe he accepts.

How to reach Tolu

Public email: [email protected]. Tolu reads every editorial complaint personally and will reply within three working days, including weekends during matchday.

Areas of expertise

Live football punditry
NPFL and AFCON markets
Accumulator strategy
Broadcast-grade fact checking

Previously at

SuperSport (presenter/producer)
AfroSport Network (lead anchor)
freetips.com (editor)
Hotsports Nigeria

Write to Tolu

Email: [email protected]. Tolu reads every message personally.