You know how statistics are. Just a bunch of stunning numbers that hide more than they reveal, and in the end you know nothing but are impressed by the large numbers and the growth or decline. This is why we called in Mark Dash, a New Zealand gambling professional who is known for making sense of the numbers in the gambling industry. He’ll make sense of the South African statistics for us. You’ll find many more interesting topics on DashTickets that targets the Kiwi audience – lots of things apply to us as well. Now, we’ll turn you over to Mark.
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It is a well-known fact that Kiwi gamblers are some of the most enthusiastic people in the world. When you look at the latest statistics, more than 50% of adults in New Zealand enjoy partaking in gambling activities online. Through the DashTickets website, local Kiwis are able to get all the best information on gambling platforms in the country. It is a one-stop shop where you can find all the vital data on gambling websites and determine whether they are worth a visit.
Base statistics of the South African Gambling Market
South Africa has the largest and the most advanced gambling market in Africa. Nigeria and Kenya, where a lot of gambling traffic goes unmonitored, are the closest competitors in terms of revenue but are far behind in terms of technology and market maturity.
At the end of the fiscal year 2022/23, R815.1 billion was wagered in total, which is 45.6% higher than the previous fiscal year, but that one was still affected by the pandemic. Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) went up 36.9% to R47.2 billion. That’s the money South Africans lost on gambling in that period. That’s R787 per person or R1,269 per adult person.
Sports betting was responsible for half of the money the operators made, 50.3% or R23.7 billion. Casinos stood at 36.8% or R17.3 billion. The limited pay-out machines (LPM), that have payouts limited to R500, were the third-largest sector at 9.0%, and bingo generated 3.9% of the revenue. Most notably, casino failed to reach its pre-pandemic GGR level of R18.4 billion.
49.4% of the adult population has placed a sports bet in that year, which is huge and indicative of a nation crazy about sports betting. The world’s average is 35.4%. South Africa is still behind the leaders of the betting-crazy continent, Nigeria, 52%, and Kenya, where an incredible 64% of the population has placed a sports bet in the last 12 months.
Almost an equal number of people have wagered money on lottery or bingo, which would indicate that this, in fact, is the most endemic form of gambling in South Africa. The third-most popular gambling vertical are online slots, with a participation level of 25%.
That right there is a very interesting number, as online slots are basically illegal in South Africa. More on that later.
Where did the growth come from?
It goes without saying, the South African gambling market is growing. Let’s take a look at how much exactly and where is the growth coming from.
Since South Africa is a sports betting haven, you’d quickly assume that any growth in a market dominated by one sector must come from that dominant sector. However, we must dig a bit deeper to find the culprit.
Fact remains that sports betting is dominant in South Africa, but that’s a given, it always will be. It will always grow slowly and naturally until it hits a plateau the way LPMs and land-based casinos did. There are no driving forces that would make more people place sports bets all of a sudden.
Due to the specific nature of this market – online casinos are illegal – and the specifics of the statistics collected, we may make an educated guess that the real driver behind the market growth has been hidden between the lines.
For example, we have statistics for casinos in general, and we have certain statistics for online wagering in general. What we don’t have are statistics for online casino wagering specifically because that would be asking people if they’re doing something that is banned.
Online casinos are making a return to South Africa
After a brief period when everyone simply ran away from South Africa when the doors were slammed shut in 2010, the Curacao-licensed operators have crawled back to the country and made a name for themselves among the players. The players have a peace of mind by now, as not a single one has been prosecuted for playing slots online.
While none of this financial traffic is monitored by the government as it wants nothing to do with it, and it doesn’t issue licences, these gambling activities show up in polls. When the report for the fiscal year 2023/24 gets published and we see a growth in casino numbers, it’s highly unlikely that more people flocked to the Golden Horse Casino in Pietermaritzburg. More likely than not, they played slots online at an offshore casino.
The real extent of the South African online casino market will be revealed only when/if online casinos get legalised again. Until then, be certain that there will be a lot of spinning of the online reels in South Africa tonight, even if it can’t show up in official stats.
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