South Africans betting billions with online bookies

Online sports betting has seen a massive spike in revenue since the 2020–2022 lockdowns, with bets placed by South Africans increasing by 1,167% over six years.

During the Covid-19 lockdown period, casino revenue in South Africa dropped from R18 billion to just below R10 billion by the middle of the pandemic.

This is according to data gathered by The Outlier from the National Gambling Board. Casino revenue has recovered slowly to near its pre-lockdown levels, sitting at around R17 billion.

However, sports betting now overshadows casinos. Sports betting has become the dominant form of gambling in South Africa, with annual revenues increasing to R24 billion.

South Africans quickly adopted the idea of sports betting during lockdown. Total bets placed per year slowly increased from R33 billion in 2016/17 to R62 billion in 2019/20.

This surged to R107 billion by 2020/21 and more than doubled to R233 billion by 2021/22 — a 118% change in bets placed over a year. Total bets placed also skyrocketed to R418 billion by 2022/23.

However, as the number of sports betters increased, so did the number of gamblers seeking assistance with their addiction. This number increased from 1,365 — an 18% increase from the year before — to 2,299, which saw the number of gambling victims seeking help rise by 68%.

This rise in gambling has been attributed to increased access to online gambling activities through more affordable smartphones and Internet access, according to the National Gambling Board’s Keletso Makopo.

As part of its diversification strategy, MultiChoice saw an opportunity to take a slice of the pie by acquiring a 20% stake in Nigerian sports betting company KingMakers, which cost R1.8 billion.

It later increased this stake to 49% the following year, costing an additional R4 billion, and introduced the BetKing platform to South Africa.

Earlier this year, the media giant launched another betting platform in partnership with KingMakers called SuperSportBet. MultiChoice added that SuperSportBet placed responsible gambling at its core, with robust tools for gambling control.

Although sports betting is legal in South Africa, online gambling remains unlawful under section 11 of the National Gambling Act, which requires operators to be properly authorised.

The Democratic Alliance proposed the Remote Gambling Bill a month before South Africa’s general election this year, which aimed to regulate the advertising of online gambling and the protection of children and vulnerable persons.

The bill, which took two years to compile according to then-industry and trade shadow minister Dean MacPherson, also proposes that gambling licences be issued by relevant provincial authorities rather than the National Gambling Board.

A similar bill was proposed in 2015 by Cape Town’s current mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, but did not progress due to a lack of support.

Seven years prior, then-President Thabo Mbeki assented to the National Gambling Amendment Act. However, it was never brought into operation.

“It is highly concerning given the massive strides and advances online usage has increased and grown since 2008,”

– MacPherson said following the bill’s proposition.

“By not regulating this gambling activity, the erosion of the rule of law and criminal activity is being encouraged, while the public is not effectively protected as they are when using land-based gaming operations.”

The effects of the under-regulated industry were highlighted in an interview by Newzroom Afrika, where a former sports bettor said that unemployment had been a major contributor to the uptake of gambling.

“Many South Africans were looking for a way to make money quickly,” –  he said.

He said that while there is a chance to win something on the app, the risk of being able to turn what little they have into more to provide for their families often overpowers the need to make a responsible economic decision.

This was further exacerbated by platforms showing users how much other people are winning.

“It does get tempting. And then you feel that you need to put more money into it. I’m not sure if it’s real people winning or if the platforms are making it up,”  – the interviewee said.

In his case, he said that he had not lost a lot of money, but it was rather how addictive the platform had become that made him want to stop.

Multiple studies have been conducted on the effects of sports betting, noting that gambling not only affects people economically but also their relationships with friends and family.

One in particular, published in 2023 by Nerilee Hing, Matthew Rockloff and Matthew Browne, is titled A Bad Bet for Sports Fans: The Case for Ending the “Gambling” of Sport.

Hing et al.’s methodology entailed analysing over 140 studies conducted on gambling and sports betting.

They advocate ending sports betting by calling on sports institutions to bring about change, as many sports teams promote sports betting.

“While betting can create enjoyment and excitement for sports fans, it can also lead to significant financial loss, the development of harmful patterns of gambling and gambling addiction, and harmful consequences across multiple life domains,”  – Hing et al. note.

The study yielded the following results:

• Sports betting can result in harmful gambling, leading to troubles in people’s relationships, finances, and health.
• Innovative betting options appeal most to sports bettors already experiencing gambling harm.
• Harmful gambling is exacerbated by sports betting advertising.
• Sports betting is normalised amongst sports fans. This has been seen in the increase in sports betting since the pandemic.
• Not only does the gamblification of sports become normalised amongst sports fans through its prolific advertising, but also amongst children.
• Sports participants are at particular risk of gambling — including professional athletes. Non-participants and non-fans were found to gamble less frequently than their counterparts.

Source: mybroadband.co.za

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