The growing sports culture among Nigerians, growing internet penetration vis-à-vis the widespread use of mobile phones, and huge population are factors that have helped the growth of the industry in the country.
Nigerians love sports (especially football) and watch sporting events for entertainment, the love has gone beyond just entertainment now; it has also become about making (and losing) money. The multi-million sports betting industry is growing astronomically, and as new entrants make their way into the market, consumers are spoilt for choice.
Sports betting has found its proverbial home in Nigeria as established sports betting companies are thriving, while new ones spring up daily at different corners, all intending to capture market share.
A report by Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler, KPMG, a British multinational professional services network in 2016 revealed some startling numbers from the sports betting industry in Nigeria. As of 2016, the leading sports betting company, Bet9ja raked in an average monthly turnover of $10 million, while NairaBet made an average turnover of $3 million – $5 million, a 20 – 30% margin on profit.
The surge in the number of mobile phone users in Nigeria has been a game changer for the sports betting business in the country. Every day, it gets easier to pay, play, and win or lose. In 2018, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC reported that there were 147 million cell phone users and 100 million internet subscribers in Nigeria, with 80 percent of this figure being able to access the internet on their phones.
Alexa, an Amazon company that commercialises web traffic data and analytics, ranked Bet9ja (bet9ja.com), as the second most visited site in Nigeria after Google.com.
As of 2020, it was estimated that the sports betting subsector of the gaming ecosystem was worth $2 billion, a figure driven by 60 million Nigerian youths between the ages of 18 and 40, with a daily transaction of $5.5 million.
While a good number of those transactions occurred in walk-in shops (estimated at 64 percent), online transactions at the time represented 34 percent. Total figures are projected to see a bump with internet penetration rising to 40.72 percent in 2023 (up from 34.55 percent in 2020), increased adoption of cashless policies, and the availability of user-friendly mobile apps to place bets.
Over the years, several sports betting companies have emerged in the country; these include MerryBet, NaijaBet, BetKing, SportyBet, Surebet24, SupaBets, 1XBet, 1960Bet, Nairastake, ParknBet, 360Bet, Msport, Betway, 22Bet, Betano, MelBet, BetWinner, Parimatch, LivescoreBet, AfriBet, Betbonanza, NetBet, N1Bet, AccessBet, Betfarm, BetoBet and many more increasingly seeking for profits.
Few of the betting outlets have endorsement deals with popular athletes to promote their brands and put their products in the faces of their customers. Betking signed Austin JayJay Okocha as its brand ambassador, while SportyBet is with Micheal Essien, who took over from Kanu Nwankwo as the face of its brand.
Oyindamola Michaels, the country’s manager of Parimatch International, said that investors are impatience, despite the influx of numerous local and international operators, most of them depart after a brief period, driven by various factors.
“Most investors springing up and opening are doing so for the wrong reasons. They are not coming to invest. They are coming to make profits, which is good. But if you do it for the right reasons, you should be able to expand across,” he said.
However, a few operators have maintained their presence by securing most of the market share. Bet9ja, for instance, records a daily transaction of $400,000. According to the ORBIT Nigeria Smartphone Report this year, the operator also boasts as the third most used app. It records that the SportyBet app has the highest number of online users, followed by BetKing, with 1xBet in fourth place. However, these apps do not represent their huge physical presence across the country.
A report by Thisdaylive stated that the sports betting sector realises $4.7 billion annually in revenue and creates about 10 million jobs; directly through customer service, marketing, and data analysis roles, as well as indirect jobs in the informal sectors providing services for them. Through the various tax levies of existing operators and license fees accrued from the growing number of licensees, the sector generates revenue for government expenditures, hence its economic importance.
“By ensuring a low entry level, more people can allocate some disposable income for a chance to win big. However, this accessibility raises concerns about its potential impact on spending patterns and other sectors of the economy, as well as the financial literacy of the population, which may lead to gambling addictions. With wager choice influenced by an individual’s skills, knowledge, and luck, potential financial losses lurk — a gateway to gambling addiction to recover losses,” it stated.
Chidimma Ekpa, a socialite said that one of the reasons for the increase of sports betting companies in the country is the lack of employment. “These companies give many youths jobs, and they also tend to make profits, seeing how the previous ones are made and still making profits.
“In Africa and other parts of the world, Nigeria is rated 82.85% with 73.33 million devices and people betting are between the ages of 16-40% according to a stat I saw some months back, and for sure it has increased by now.
“Imagine youths with no job and wandering the street, if they get 100 nairas, most of them do believe that it would increase if they place a bet with that. Hence they lose the money and make the betting companies gain, multiply that by 100 people, and there you have your answer as to why the sudden increase of these companies,” Ms Ekpa said.
–Benprince Ezeh
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