SBC News Charting South Africa's exponential growth: the insider view

Charting South Africa’s exponential growth: the insider view

In a special SBC Series, we speak to some of South Africa’s biggest market players to deliver the most comprehensive series of market reports ever put together on the country. We’ll be reviewing the best-performing verticals, the rise of casino and crash games, regulatory hurdles, and most importantly – the factors driving the market’s exponential growth since COVID. 

To kick things off, we speak with Johannesburg native Brandon Walker, Head of Business Development at global platform provider Amelco, as well as Cape Town-based Iain Gutteridge, a 30-year industry veteran and Managing Director of operator LulaBet

To say that the South African gambling market has undergone a drastic transformation over the last few years would be an understatement to say the least. 

Not only is the regulated market expected to surpass the US$828m mark in 2024, but the country is also tipped to become one of 2020’s most bullish opportunities now that online casino is regulating properly.

This certainly isn’t a prediction that shouldn’t be dismissed lightly. But why has South Africa suddenly found itself in the spotlight? 

It would be nigh-on impossible to answer that question with just one simple answer. As with the growth of any market, there have been a number of factors that have contributed to South Africa’s ascension to ‘must enter’ status. 

From a tech-savvy population to high rates of mobile penetration and an ever-increasing provision of advanced mobile data – not to mention sports being interwoven into the country’s social tapestry – it’s easy to see why betting and gaming has become a staple of entertainment. 

For Walker, a growing penchant for casino-led products among players has had a huge impact on the market’s growth – a trend that has been particularly evident since the pandemic. 

He began: “The market’s changed massively over the last five years. Casino has, of course, become a major vertical, and we’re seeing plenty of big-name studios getting their games licensed and live with the Amelco platform. It’s been all about adapting to the evolving regulatory changes and gaining an edge. 

“Looking at the last 12 to 18 months, crash games, especially SPRIBE’s Aviator, have really dominated the market. Pragmatic Play, Evolution and Light & Wonder are already prominent – with Aristocrat likely to be here in the near future. I also expect we’ll see the likes of Relax and Play’n Go really starting to make a name for themselves here too. Clearly there’s opportunity here.

“We’ve got one of the best platforms out there – and of course, I’m very proud that we’ve been the first in South Africa to offer the same tech that’s used by the biggest brands in the global industry. Whether that’s for Entain, Flutter, Fanatics or Hard Rock Bet, all of which we service.”

Sports betting: A South African staple

While casino’s already become a game changer, we shouldn’t forget sports betting. Until recently, this was one of the few products available under the fixed-odds regulatory rules. 

South Africa’s online sports betting market currently has a projected market volume of US$394.80m revenue in 2024. By 2029, the market is expected to generate revenues of approximately US$1.1bn, with the number of bettors predicted to surpass 4.2 million in the same timeframe. 

One company that has borne witness to that rapid growth of sports betting has been Cape Town-based operator, LulaBet, which first partnered with Amelco back in 2022 after selecting Amelco as its lead platform provider. Since then, the two brands have gone from strength to strength.

According to LulaBet Managing Director Gutteridge, it is football that continues to remain a firm favourite with bettors. Interestingly, however, it isn’t the domestic leagues that players have shown a preference for.

The 30-year industry veteran explains: “Football’s definitely our most popular sports market in South Africa, and with good reason. The English Premier League is always going to be the most popular, but we’re also seeing plenty of other action with the other European leagues. 

“We’re also seeing more interest in local football leagues – but it will always be dwarfed by the big teams in Europe. Interestingly tennis and other racket sports are becoming more and more popular. Cricket and Rugby, given the sports’ local heritage, are always going to be big too.”

Since its market entry in 2022, Amelco has been committed to offering stand-out igaming solutions – including lottery, casino, retail and online products. But for Walker, it is Amelco’s sports betting heritage and the team’s extensive, local expertise that has allowed the platform provider to truly stand out from the crowd.

There are four sports which have become somewhat synonymous with South Africa – rugby, football, cricket and racket sports. 

While Walker remains confident that football will continue to have the lion’s share of the market, he predicts that more ‘niche’ sports will continue to grow in popularity as bettors seek more rounded, quick-fire betting experiences. 

It’s here that Amelco’s local edge comes into play. He added: “Across the Amelco platform, table tennis leagues are seeing serious growth. The main driver for that is its instant availability, as well as providing an excellent betting gap between bigger sporting fixtures, such as football. 

“We’ve been one of the first to jump on this trend as it’s reflective of wider global dynamics – where table tennis volumes are increasing globally. Even in the UK we’re seeing a big uplift.”

Being adept and staying ahead of trends is key to success in the market, and none know this better than Gutteridge, who has served the industry for more than two decades. That local understanding again is an area where both really come into play. He added: “Table tennis’s popularity has lived on since COVID. It’s all about identifying what players want, especially as the market evolves and making sure that content is delivered.” 

Online casino: A huge growth opportunity

In a similar vein to Walker, Gutteridge also believes that the growth of the online casino sector to be somewhat of an interesting proposition for gambling operators, but one that wouldn’t have otherwise been possible five years ago.

The road to legislating casino products in South Africa has, without a doubt, been a long and winding one with each provincial regulator requiring licence holders to meet different criteria.

As we’ve already covered, operators were only permitted to offer fixed-odds products, covering sports and numbers’ games – with any development of mobile betting on the likes of slots or live casino hampered by the limited mobile infrastructure. 

However, as smartphone and mobile data provision has increased, that definition of fixed-odds products has been expanded in recent years via the Western Cape regulator in particular, and now encompasses products such as slots and crash games. 

This change in regulation, according to Gutteridge, has not only opened the doors for operators to offer an expanded range of products to players, but has also shifted the dynamics of the wider market, paving the way for new verticals to dominate.

For both LulaBet’s MD and Amelco’s Head of Business Development, slots are now dominating the casino market, but there is another product that is hot on its heels.

Gutteridge explained: “Looking at timeframes, live casino came into the market back in 2019, with slots following in 2022. There was, in effect, an 18-month gap where live casino was the only other vertical aside from sports. Of course, since the approval of slots games, all the big-name studios have been dominating.

“However, live casino has always been seen as a premium product, and out-of-touch with native players given the studios are predominantly European and unsuited to the low-stakes, big win nature of local betting. 

“When it comes to slots, it’s a different story however, and this popularity has continued to surge, both due to the greater provision of mobile data and the low-stakes, big-win format that is so synonymous with the vertical.”

But will slots continue to gain market share? Gutteridge explains: “The main competitor here is crash games, which have seen a meteoric rise. At the moment they’re all making up part of the player mix. There’s certainly been numerous attempts to introduce other verticals over the last 30-years, such as skill-based and community gaming and the like, as well as feature buys, but they haven’t taken off. 

“Looking at the market today, it’s crash games that have been truly disruptive and changed the landscape. We’re not understating it when we say that SPRIBE’s Aviator was absolutely revolutionary, rather than evolutionary. It completely transformed the market.”

Native products – bringing a local edge 

So, with slots and crash games fuelling the surge – are there any other factors at play? Sports betting of course will always be hugely popular, but there’s also another element that can fuel the market’s expansion. In short, localised content. 

For Gutteridge, it is specifically native South African studios that he believes will present a golden opportunity for suppliers looking to disrupt the space. No-one has jumped into this yet, but as soon as someone does, the rewards are waiting to be reaped. 

“Native live studios, whether that’s live casino or local numbers’ games studios, is a big gap that hasn’t been filled and can change things a lot. It’s all about localisation, and while live casino has been a niche until now – having a native brand, designed for a native audience could really transform things as it can actually resonate with the local market. 

“I believe localised, live betting content can become one of the next big things in South Africa, delivered in a local format that can appeal to a much broader audience. Let’s think of fixed-odds lottery games, with draws by local influencers – when I say that could be absolutely massive, I certainly mean it. 

“I’d put my money on native studios as soon as they arrive – localised delivery is going to be a massive edge in the market for whoever can fill the gap first.”

Gutteridge isn’t alone in his prediction, with Walker also confident in the fact that it will be localised content that will take the market by storm in 2025. 

“I agree with Iain that it’s all about local content,” Walker continued. “This is the great thing about the Amelco platform, given our bespoke delivery, we know how to adapt and be flexible. 

“The major providers who ‘get’ the market and can be fast and agile enough to bring in new content as it rises in local popularity is going to be key to staying ahead.”

For both Amelco and LulaBet, South Africa will remain a firm focus going into 2025. And as other brands continue to scramble for market share, these two partners are confident that their diverse portfolio and local expertise puts them in good stead to dominate the market for years to come.

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