SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
A report on gaming conducted by financial accountancy services – Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) has published that all forms of gaming have increased during 2013 despite the country’s economic downturn.
The report published studies into gaming in the region, analyzing South African player behavior, further studies on individual game performances and revenues, and gives insight into why the South African gaming has grown in this difficult economic period for the nation of South Africa.
The report states that gross gambling revenues generated by Casino equaled a gross revenue of ZAR16.4 billion (€1.2 billion/$1.6 billion) in 2012, the majority of that figure was generated by offline casino play. Sports betting and horse racing gross gambling was the second largest gaming category which generated R2.6 billion. The report also states that bingo is witnessing fastest growth in the market, with an increase of 86% in gross revenues.
The increase in gambling revenues have allowed the South African government to raise tex revenues and levies. Tax generated through gambling verticals increased by 14% totaling a record ZAR2.1 billion. With tax implemented via a South African State Level – regions such as the Gauteng province having contributed ZAR836 million, and the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal both providing over ZAR400 million.
The PWC report states that South African gambling revenues and taxes could potentially increase a further 10% year on year with with sector projections of ZAR2.1 billion in 2012 to ZAR3.5 billion in 2017.
