SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Meridianbet has been granted an official sports-betting licence for South Africa.
A subsidiary of Golden Matrix Group, the operator was issued a bookmaker licence by the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board, as well as a bookmaker premises licence and a manufacturer licence.
Zoran Milosevic, CEO of Meridianbet, explained that the brand is thrilled to enter the South African market, with this new licence presenting a significant opportunity for it to continue to scale its operations.
The South African digital gambling market has experienced significant growth in recent years, and according to Statista, total revenue is estimated to reach $828.50m by the end of 2024.
Furthermore, the market is expected to grow at a ‘compound annual growth rate’ of 5.77% from 2024 to 2029, resulting in a projected market volume of $1.1bn.
“Expanding our reach into South Africa will provide new opportunities to grow our user base in an entirely new jurisdiction, underscoring our ongoing commitment to growing our industry-leading brands around the world,” he added.
The licences will enable Meridianbet to operate online sports betting across the region, as the company looks to showcase its regulatory compliance within South Africa’s “stringent licensing regime”.
Meanwhile, the Manufacturer License also permits Meridianbet to licence its proprietary sports betting software within the Western Cape region.
This month, Golden Matrix Group published its financial performance after acquiring Meridianbet earlier in the year.
The company’s pro forma financial statements were filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the statements, Golden Matrix’s pro forma combined financial results for the fiscal 2023 showed total revenue of $137.17m, with a gross margin of 56.95%.
