Global trade has driven the development of the local economy in Africa, where businessmen unwilling to remain poor have made money through the global trade supply chain with their shrewd minds.
After becoming wealthy, the black business elites had more demands for gaming entertainment. As the game with the most positive emotional value feedback in human nature, gambling games have maximized the value feedback of simple happiness.
In the past decade, with the rapid development of mobile internet, Africa's gambling industry has come into the public eye. Having a smartphone allows participation in online games, which has a significant impact on Africa where public infrastructure is weak.
Africa is vast with many countries, and the economic levels of different countries vary greatly. Which African countries have more potential entertainment consumer groups? Sportybet, a sports betting company focused on the African market, knows the answer, and they have set up betting lines for Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Zambia, and Tanzania.
Sportybet's parent company is Singapore's Sporty Group, a consumer internet and technology company. Its brands include Sportybet (sports betting), Sporty.com (sports application), SportyTV (sports media), and Social Soccer (game). This year's European Cup, Sporty Group's SportyTV signed an exclusive broadcasting agreement. It provided free live broadcasts for audiences in Nigeria and Ghana and sublicensed the broadcast rights to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Why Nigeria
Choosing Nigeria as the locomotive of the African gambling market is firstly because they have a large population base, fertile soil nurturing a population size of nearly 230 million, ranking sixth in the world. Moreover, there is a growing trend, with the population expected to break through to 300 million in ten years.
The median age of the Nigerian population is 18.6 years, with 61% of the population under 25 years old, meaning more young people and potentially more consumer demand. In terms of religious beliefs, the population of Christians/Catholics and Muslims is almost evenly split, providing ample space for the establishment of offline betting stations.
The second point is ethnic characteristics, Nigeria has many 'smart people', especially the Igbos who make up 18% of the population in the southeast of the country. Many people are involved in illegal activities behind the scenes, and those accustomed to 'quick and high-profit' businessmen naturally like and will actively market entertainment projects that are effective quickly.
Nigerian Gambling Market
Sportybet and bet9ja, having been deeply rooted in Africa for many years, unsurprisingly occupy the top traffic in the Nigerian market. Betking and Msport are local Nigerian brands with strong regional competitiveness.
As newcomers to the market, 1xbet and Betway, which obtained Nigerian operating licenses, adopted local domain suffixes ng. In the era where traffic is king, 1xbet's marketing team has strong global expansion capabilities.
The Canadian company Stake continues to adhere to the 'every sweepstakes includes you' global traffic strategy, indirectly reflecting the influence of cryptocurrencies in the global gambling market.
Research institution TGM reported in 2022 that over 60 million people in Nigeria participate in sports betting daily, with 51.2% of adults betting on sports in the past 12 months. There are at least 14 million sports betting transactions in Nigeria every day, with an average bet size of around 1 dollar, accumulating a large scale.
As an emerging market, the proportion of Nigerian users accessing sports betting through mobile networks is extremely high. If the access devices are mostly mobile devices, young/entertainment-type users are the main consumers. In Nigeria, betting on the football betting market is already a market consensus, with at least 70% of transactions coming from football. When there are no football matches, fast-paced virtual football and football esports are also very popular. To cater to this trend, Sportybet chose the Maltese company Beter.co as their technical support for virtual sports and esports projects this summer.
Localization Model
The official language of Nigeria is English, and sports betting websites' advertising marketing usually features more black male faces. The style is generally close to European pages, using decimal odds. The UI design is very simple, and the usability and smoothness are good. In terms of customer acquisition, they generally find potential customers within the region by locking the international area code for registration, strengthening operations within the region.
Digital Marketing in Media
Bet9jia company operated the HomeTurf podcast this year, and their channel currently has 450,000 subscribers on YouTube, with almost every episode reaching a viewership of 300,000. Sportybet has Sporty.com and SportyTV as part of their media marketing matrix, with only football, basketball, tennis, and volleyball available on Sporty.com's live scores, showing the preferences of Nigerian gamblers.
Number of Fans on X
Sportybet 480,000
Bet9ja 260,000
SportybetNG 100,000
Betking 80,000
BetwayNG 55,000
Msport 40,000
Instagram Followers
Bet9ja 210,000
Sportybet 60,000
Betkingng 48,000
In terms of sports league sponsorship, Sportybet is the official partner of La Liga and Real Madrid Football Club in the African region, Bet9jia opts to sponsor the local team Super Eagles. Msport is the African regional partner of Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund.
Payment Clearing Model and Exchange Rate Fluctuations
Sports betting companies with official licenses use not only bank channels but also electronic payment wallets such as Paystack, Verve, Opay (with Chinese backing), and Palmpay (with Chinese backing) to help these companies complete clearing tasks. Through social media targeting of Nigerian users, it was found that they use the Naira currency.
The biggest financial risk faced by multinational companies investing is the fluctuation of exchange rates. The official currency of Nigeria is the Naira, which depreciated by 30% over the past year, making it a high-risk fiat currency. After South African media giant MultiChoice took a 49% stake in Betking (Kingmaker) in 2021, it faced higher than expected expansion costs and depreciation of the Naira in 2022, resulting in a financial performance worse than expected, encountering a $100 million investment loss.
On a certain platform's C2C transactions, there is no option for NGN.
Conclusion
We have focused on the development of the Nigerian gambling market, where the youthfulness and mobile internetization of users are prominent features, and football matches are their favorite events. Fast-paced projects like virtual sports and esports are rapidly developing trends. Local social media KOLs advocate the game strategy of winning big with small bets, catering to some characteristics of the market users, and the pan-entertainment and lottery nature of sports betting.
If you are interested in the Nigerian market, or the African market in general, feel free to consult the official PASA channel: https://t.me/PASAIGHYJL
