BETTORLOGIC
Virtually Africa T
Current Trends
Detailed analysis reveals unique intricacies in countries, but one common factor is the immense passion for football across the continent. The vast majority of Africa is concentrated primarily on football betting and the most popular leagues from around the world. England’s Premier League leads the way, but La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A are not a million miles behind. These leagues are the main draw for sports betting shops, but they refrain from showing live sports to ensure the core offering is not diluted by the noise and they turn into sports bars. To maintain decent shop footfall a move has been made towards installing virtual gaming solutions. Virtual gaming products are proving popular across some African markets, but clearly don’t rely on any education or research to be done in comparison to live sports. Sportsbooks on live events provide a better route for expansion as they combine the passion from supporting clubs with chances of profitable returns.
Expansion also needs the right infrastructure in place and consolidation paves the way most effectively. Consolidation of territories across Africa is a trend we are seeing more and more of, which is why
66 OCTOBER 2017
Bettorlogic CEO Andrew Dagnall offers his insight into Africa’s growing gaming market and the future direction of the space.
he African gaming market is awash with activity, and sportsbooks are a key driver in its recent success. There is a significant amount of growth underway in the space and the market is rightly garnering plenty
of attention as operators look to expand their offering into new territories. Before considering entering the African domain it’s
imperative to appreciate that no one country has the exact gaming characteristics. There are certainly countries with similar trends and behaviours, but it is effectively 54 different markets to consider. A one- size-fits-all approach for operators simply will not work meaning thorough research must be undertaken to make it a successful venture for any business.
many European-based operators are eyeing expansion opportunities here. It is always important to monitor how a country is politically balanced as there are many changes going on. Nigeria is a case in point where the price of oil has dropped significantly in recent times to lead to a major downturn in the economy. Kenya has also been in the news in the past few months following the government’s decision to bring in a new gambling tax. The original tax rates ranged between 5% and 15%
of gross gaming revenue, and applied to any income generated through gambling, including player winnings. A new rate that seems to have settled around 35% represents something of a compromise from the government’s original 50% target, which was rejected by the legal department. However, it is still seen as a noteworthy threat to the country’s licensed gambling operators. Kenya remains Africa’s third- largest gambling market behind South Africa and Nigeria. On the ground, African sports betting customers are becoming better educated and traditional products are beginning to have less of an impact on customers. In comparison to other betting markets, Africa has
more interest in virtuals than somewhere like Asia. Using bet history data that we receive to create a profile of a player virtuals in the more traditional betting territories attract less than 2% of turnover. In Africa there is much more reliance on virtual as there is less choice. Furthermore, many of the African sportsbooks are run by marketers who may not be bettors and therefore they like virtuals because they are guaranteed an 8% margin as opposed to the more volatile sports betting markets where, in the absence of effective risk management, they can be clobbered when results go against them.
The trend tends to be
that, more choice, less virtual. Future Trends
There are plenty of opportunities to grow the
sportsbook market and I think there are chances to educate the market to enrich African players with
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