if string contains replace python code example

Example 1: pandas replace word begins with contains

In [71]:
df.loc[df['sport'].str.contains('ball'), 'sport'] = 'ball sport'
df

Out[71]:
    name       sport
0    Bob      tennis
1   Jane  ball sport
2  Alice  ball sport

Example 2: pandas replace word begins with contains

df.sport = df.sport.apply(lambda x: 'ball sport' if 'ball' in x else x)