How to start your own betting platform in South Africa
How do you launch a betting company in South Africa? How do you deal with issues like business registration and creating a marketing strategy? Slotegrator will help you in research and analysis. And this article will give an idea of how SA regulates betting, how to get a sportsbook license, and what local bettors like to bet on.
Africa has grabbed the industry’s attention as home to a number of emerging markets, but at the southern tip of the continent lies its third-biggest economy and biggest betting market. Keep reading to find out why South Africa is a prime destination for online sportsbook operators — and how entrepreneurs can get their business going.
It’s hard to find a country where sports betting isn’t popular.
Sports fans around the world heighten the excitement of watching a game or match by pitting their intuition against bookmakers’ odds — and as our world becomes more and more tech-centric, sports betting is moving online alongside everything else.
Regulations are a concern in every market. When it comes to legislation, online sportsbooks have one big edge over online casinos — there are more countries that prohibit online casino gaming but allow sports betting than vice versa.
With the right products, the right marketing strategies, and (perhaps most importantly) the right odds, a well-run online sportsbook can be a healthy source of revenue.
Emerging markets across Africa are catching the eye of operators and investors. But the Republic of South Africa (SA) has long been established as a prominent, thriving market, one that could provide operators with a solid base to build on while they’re expanding across the rest of the continent into bet-loving countries like Nigeria and Kenya.
While a few decades ago nearly all forms of gambling were banned in the country, today it has a vibrant gambling market, driven in a large part by a well-established land-based casino sector and a substantial and fast-growing sports betting segment. Getting a bookmaker’s license in South Africa is looking like a better idea every day.
What do South Africans bet on? Choosing the sports for the South African market
South Africa has the continent’s third-highest GDP, behind Egypt and fellow sports betting hotbed Nigeria. With the country’s widespread love of sports, it’s no wonder that it’s also Africa’s biggest gambling market.
The online gambling market revenue is expected to reach $828.5 million in 2024, and over $1 billion by 2029, showing an annual growth rate of 5.77%. The online betting market is projected to grow to $394.8 million in 2024 — the betting industry generates 44.9% of total industry GGR.
South African players enjoy spreading internet penetration and increasing access to smartphones. In fact, mobile devices are more popular than traditional desktops. The popularity of online gambling is skyrocketing, and sport betting takes a major share of this market — South African bettors are passionate about sports and supporting their favorite teams.
Cultural acceptance of gambling, passion for sports, high rates of mobile phone connectivity, local betting regulation, and unstable financial conditions together make sports betting popular with South African players.
What sports do South African punters bet on?
South African players like sports in general and bet on the same sports that are popular everywhere else around the world. However, they also have their local preferences.
The South African national rugby team, the Springboks, has legions of die-hard fans — and therefore plenty of die-hard bettors. South Africans also place bets on cricket, soccer, golf, basketball, and tennis. Both domestic and international football are also in demand, as well as horse racing, which has a long history in the country; for a long time, it was the only available form of betting. South African athletes are also highly competitive on an international level in cricket and golf, both of which the country’s punters enjoy betting on.
Local players also bet on esports.
Steps to launch a betting business
Starting an online sportsbook in South Africa looks like a great idea from every perspective.But a betting project is not a simple venture; being consistent is a key to success.
Here are the steps we recommend you take:
- Choose your niche and decide what sports you will offer (horse racing, esports, football, basketball, or all of them).
- Decide what business structure is the best for you: White Label or individual licensee.
- Get a betting license.
- Partner with payment systems and sport betting data feed providers.
- Develop a platform and back-end system.
- Create a website design and elaborate its functionality.
- Ensure your platform’s security.
- Write a marketing strategy and launch your marketing campaigns.
How do you choose the business structure of an online sportsbook?
Online sportsbooks, just like other types of gambling businesses, need both software and legal solutions. Operators can go either way: sign a white label agreement or do everything on their own.
White label solution
White label solutions allow operators to work with ready-made software and under their business partner’s sublicense. This is the quickest way to go live, but white label options are normally provided only to experienced operators.
From scratch
Individual solution is an independent business project where the operator organizes the whole process. It’s a more difficult and time-consuming way to launch a sportsbook, but you can save time and money by cooperating with a B2B provider for a readymade platform instead of developing it yourself.
Sportegrator is a complex solution for online sportsbooks that includes the platform, back-end, and data feeds and takes only one integration session. Our sportsbook has a smooth and convenient operating system, a CRM system for effective player retention, a CMS system for content and performance management, and more than 100 payment service operators. With personalized settings, a live sports data feed API with a range of sports, events, bets, and odds, bespoke design, and customizable bonus offers, our sportsbook software will let you offer your players 24/7 betting on the sports of their choice with odds they’ll be dying to try and beat.
Quality platform software is absolutely necessary. This includes a powerful and smooth-running backend that will support high volumes of traffic without glitching and a frontend customized to appeal to the tastes (and native language) of your target market.
South Africa has eleven national languages, but if you can’t offer a version of your site in all of them, you’ll cast the widest possible net with English and Afrikaans. If you can localize your website in Khosa and Zulu, all the better.
A good platform will also have a bonus module to enhance player retention and reporting tools that track, segment, and analyze your business’s performance so you can stay on top of daily operations.
Of course, an online gaming platform is nothing without content — in this case, betting opportunities. To set odds and give players the up-to-the-minute info they’ve come to expect, you’ll need live data feeds covering a variety of sports disciplines. Punters should always have plenty of events to bet on — many bettors enjoy placing several wagers at once.
How do you get a sportsbook license in South Africa?
Licensed operation is always a safe and stable choice. Let’s see how you can get licensed in South Africa.
How do the provinces break down?
The Republic of South Africa is divided into nine provinces, each of which have their own regulatory authority that oversees gambling and betting. At a federal level, gambling is regulated by the National Gaming Board. National GGR is divided among the country’s nine provinces — but far from equally.
The top three provinces for gambling revenues are Gauteng, the Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal. The Western Cape has its second-highest GGR, due to its higher concentration of spending power. Despite being only the fourth-biggest province by population (with a little over 7 million residents, compared to Gauteng’s population of nearly 15.5 million), the Western Cape has the country’s second-biggest provincial GDP.
The Western Cape is a popular destination for sportsbook operators, many of which are licensed by the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board.
It’s a safe guess that the province of operation will determine many aspects of your business. Provinces with higher GDP per capita, such as the Western Cape, will probably see a higher average bet — but maybe less betting frequency — than areas where punters have less spending power.
Each of the country’s nine provinces has its own regulatory body for gambling and betting. The nine authorities are:
- Gauteng Gambling Board
- Eastern Cape Gambling and Betting Board
- Free State Gambling and Racing Board
- KwaZulu-Natal Gambling and Racing Board
- Limpopo Gambling Board
- Mpumalanga Gambling Board
- North West Gambling Board
- Northern Cape Gambling Board
- Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board
Every province has its own regulations, application process, requirements to fulfill, and paperwork to fill out. Below, we provide an example — the licensing fees that would be paid to the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board. Some of the forms you will need in order to apply for a WCGRB license will include (but may not be limited to):
- Business Entity Disclosure form
- Additional key employee license
- Bookmaker premises license application form
- Application form for a key employee license
- Personal history disclosure
- Application by license holder for approval of procurement of financial interest
Operators accustomed to coughing up the high licensing fees in the European market could find the licensing fees in South Africa to be a little more inviting. This is a table of costs that might be incurred when applying for a license from the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board.
| License Type | New license application fee | Annual license fee | Annual investigation fee |
| Manufacturer / distributor | R 14,377 | R 5,755 | R 28,776 |
| Totalisator operator | R 287,672 | R 5,755 | R 143,843 |
| National Manufacturer | R 120,000 | ||
| Totalisator premises | R 14,377 | R 585 | R 1,435 |
| Bookmaker | R 14,377 | R 2,884 | R 11,513 |
| Bookmaker premises | R 14,377 | R 585 | R 1,435 |
| Key employee | R 585 | R 155 | R 585 |
| National key | R 4,000 |
We offer consultancy services and complete package solutions for gambling license acquisition that include:
- Gambling jurisdiction and business advisory
- Gambling business corporate structure incorporation
- Opening bank accounts
- Gambling license application
Website development
Once your betting company is licensed you can dedicate your time to the platform and website. This is a breakdown of elements your effective platform will consist of.
UX design
Good UX design and clear website navigation is a must in today’s iGaming market. Bettors won’t spend time looking for what they need or waiting for pages to load — they want to start placing bets as quickly as possible, especially in regions where they like to bet often. Another thing to keep in mind is that in South Africa, where most players use their smartphones to bet, all websites must have mobile versions.
Our Telegram Casino solution is a mobile casino or sportsbook in a worldwide popular messenger app. Alternative to a traditional online platform offers all functions of a classic casino but is more convenient and accessible.
Website functions
A sportsbook website should include several important functions for maximum user convenience:
- Registration and personality verification.
- Selection of sports to bet on.
- Odds display for different events and markets.
- Account management where users can place deposits, withdraw winnings, and manage accounts.
- Live betting for real-time events.
- Results and statistics to help users make informed betting decisions.
- Promotions and bonuses.
- Responsible gambling tools, including deposit limits, self-exclusion, and educational resources.
- Customer support, such as live chat, email, or phone.
The back end of a betting platform
This is where you segment your users, offer bonuses, and verify personalities. The back end collects and analyzes data about bettors behavior and helps to create marketing strategies. Sportegrator, Slotegrator’s sportsbook platform, also offers bonus management, risk management, personalization, payment methods, and real-time sports data feeds.
Betting website security
Keep in mind that both bookmaker and bettor must be protected. You can offer secure payment processing by partnering with only reputable and secure payment gateways to process financial transactions, ensuring that sensitive payment information is encrypted and handled securely.
Implement secure password policies and provide user privacy policies.
It’s essential for operators to secure their online operation. We covered this topic in our article Safety first: Slotegrator’s guide to iGaming cybersecurity — read it to learn more about how to deal with your own security.
How much does a betting website cost?
While calculating expenses, keep in mind that developing your own platform and website will be more expensive and time consuming than purchasing a ready-made, customized solution from a sportsbook provider. Developing a proprietary platform will require a full team of developers and managers to organize the work process.
If you decide to go for an external team of professionals, the cost of its services will be one of your expenses, along with salaries for your own teams, including sales, marketing, and player support, as well as web hosting.
How do you choose a payment provider?
Players in different regions have different requirements when it comes to payment processing. Online sportsbooks should always support deposits and withdrawals in the local currency of their market of operation — South African Rand (ZAR) in this case — but cryptocurrencies are exploding in popularity, so it’s not a bad idea to accept Bitcoin or Ethereum.
It’s also important to integrate a range of different payment methods in addition to covering different currencies. Players in many markets — especially African markets — don’t have access to traditional banks, instead making payments through their mobile carrier or through other alternatives like e-wallets. Integrating all these payment systems — and more — will help you make sure a punter is never turned away because they couldn’t make a deposit.
How do you start marketing campaigns for a betting platform?
Marketing campaigns start with a detailed plan that takes into account the chosen market, target audience, local bettors preferences, and languages.
Our interactive map of gambling regulation gives an idea about land-based and online casinos and sports betting. This is a perfect tool to start your research with.
Slotegrator recommends researching gambling advertising laws before planning your marketing in any country. Gambling in South Africa is regulated according to the National Gambling Act 2004 (NGA) and local province level acts. All advertising materials in South Africa must include responsible gambling messages and avoid targeting minors.
There are several ways to promote your betting platform. Among the most popular and effective sources of traffic is affiliate marketing. However social media, sponsorships, and bonuses are also common for gambling and betting businesses.
What are the big names in South African sports betting?
A number of well-established domestic and international sportsbook brands, such as Betway, Bet.co.za, Hollywoodbets, and Supabets are licensed to operate in South Africa — very commonly in the Western Cape.
When it comes to race betting, Gold Circle is the totalizer operator in KwaZulu-Natal, and Phumelela offers horserace betting in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, the North West, the Northern Cape, the Eastern Cape, the Free State, and the Western Cape (on behalf of Kenilworth Racing Trust).
How can Slotegrator help you?
Slotegrator is a sportsbook platform and B2B services provider. In our 12 years of industry experience, we’ve gathered a vast amount of knowledge about the iGaming industry, and we can share this knowledge either through articles and case studies in the Academy section of our site or through a consultation.
Feel free to contact us with any questions or inquiries and get a free consultation about Sportegrator or arrange a call with our sales team and integrate over 400,000 events, 35,000 live events, 4,500 live odds esports events, and 7 virtual sports in 24/7 live HD for your betting project.
Are online bookmakers legal in South Africa?
Yes, sport betting is legal and regulated in South Africa. The country is divided into nine provinces, each of which has its own gambling and betting regulator.
How do I get a gaming license in South Africa?
Operators apply for a betting license from a regional regulator and submit a list of documents, including application, personal history, and business entity disclosure, and pay licensing fees. Note that key persons must have a key person license. You can find an example of fees in the table above.
How much does it cost to open a betting company in South Africa?
The cost of starting a betting business in South Africa varies depending on the province. You should also include the cost of developing or purchasing a sportsbook platform, data feeds, security measures, and your betting project team.
What other African countries love to bet on sports?
Kenya and Nigeria have made waves as the second- and third-biggest betting markets. Kenyan punters prefer placing a high volume of low-value bets, though the government has recently made several shifts in policy that have left bookmakers wary. In Nigeria, like in South Africa, online sports betting is permitted while online casino games are banned, and betting on football — especially the European leagues — is incredibly popular. Uganda and Tanzania also provide opportunities for online sportsbook operators.
How much does a gambling license cost in South Africa?
The bookmaker license application fee in the Western Cape is R 14,377 ($766) and the totalisator operator application fee is R 287,672 ($15,341). However every province applies its own fees, contact our team to learn more.
