Betting Industry Shake-up: Disruption Meets Control in Nigeria’s Gaming Space

Meet CEOs/MDs of companies behind Nigeria’s $2 billion Sports betting industry.

Gaming has actually evolved significantly in Nigeria from conventional kinds like pool staking and Baba Ijebu to a successful sports betting market. Historically connected to European football leagues, swimming pool staking was a common sight at motor sports betting parks and kiosks, where lovers would bet as little as N50-N200 on matches.

Slowly, with increased web access came virtual wagering, which parallels global trends. The sports betting market is valued at $89.91 billion in 2023 and is projected to almost double to $182.02 billion by 2030.

In spite of financial challenges such as inflation, Nigeria’s sports betting wagering sector has flourished, drawing in millions, specifically amongst the younger demographic dealing with high joblessness rates.

Reports suggest that roughly 60 million Nigerians aged 18-40 actively participate in sports betting wagering, driving a market that produces an approximated annual revenue of N730 billion. The federal government has actually not gone undetected by this growth, which is thinking about regulative measures like import tax duties and VAT increases to manage the sector.

The National Lottery Act of 2005 recognized regulatory bodies like the National Lottery Regulatory Commission to make sure fair operations in spite of challenges in enforcement. Concerns such as insufficient age verification and marketing rule breaches reveal industry regulative spaces.

Regardless of these difficulties, sports betting wagering business continue to flourish through efficient organization models and aggressive marketing techniques, leveraging the developer influencer industry.

These efforts have contributed to Nigeria’s robust $2 billion gambling sector, with CEOs playing vital roles in broadening audience reach and sports betting driving market development. Here are the CEOs of leading sports betting wagering business who have significantly added to Nigeria’s $2 billion gambling empire through their substantial audience reach.

Constable Olaniyan – CEO Surebet247

Sheriff Olaniyan is the CEO of Surebet247, a sports betting book business he co-founded with Badmos Olasupo in 2011. His diverse career covers numerous roles in the video gaming and entertainment industry, consisting of operating at among the United Kingdom’s largest gaming centres, The Palace Bingo Club, where he served as the Lead Engineer in a Bingo and Bowling Club.

Olaniyan holds a BSc in Geography from the University of Ilorin and a Master’s in Geographical Information Systems from the of Glamorgan, Wales. Surebet247, founded in August 2011, has actually become a leading e-commerce company in the sports betting and sports betting video gaming sector, running through online, mobile, and retail channels. The business was incorporated in Nigeria on November 7, 2006, and sports betting has because expanded its presence, accomplishing over 5,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.

Sam Sadi – CEO Livescorebet

Sam Sadi has more than 25 years of experience in wagering brand names and sports betting media. In 2019, he ended up being the CEO of LiveScore Group, a completely incorporated community that integrates pertinent sports betting content, engaging features, and a first-rate sportsbook.

Given that taking the helm prior to the pandemic, Sam has actually driven significant development for LiveScore Group. The company’s staff member headcount has increased by 29%, and annual earnings has surged from around ₤ 10 million to over ₤ 80 million.

Sam’s management and strategic vision have propelled LiveScore Group’s success and helped form the market’s instructions. LiveScoreBet has achieved significant user engagement, with over 100,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.

Anthony Werkman – CEO of Betway Group

Anthony Werkman was designated CEO of Betway in November 2017, having actually previously acted as the company’s Marketing and Operations Director because 2015. He joined Betway in 2013 and has actually remained in the online video gaming market given that 2000, holding various effective functions, including General Manager of an information analytics group and Director sports betting of a digital marketing company.

Under Werkman’s management, Betway has continued to grow its market existence and boost its offerings. The company’s app has garnered substantial user engagement, with over 100,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.

Damilare Alabi, Co-Founder, Managing Director NairaBET

Damilare Alabi has actually distinguished herself as a senior executive with a performance history of transforming start-ups into institutionalized organizations. Her know-how covers the gaming, property, and sports betting credit loaning industries, where he has actually established himself as a strategic and operational leader.

Damilare has actually been instrumental in NairaBET’s success for over 14 years. Because June 2019, she has functioned as Managing Director and sports betting has actually overseen the business’s development and operations in Lagos, Nigeria.

Before this, she was the Chief Operating Officer from 2010 to June 2019, pivotal in the company’s operational methods and market expansion.

She founded DearDammy Women’s Initiative (DDWIN), a non-profit organization empowering women-owned businesses. DDWIN offers frHer instructional background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Geology/Earth Science from the University of Ibadan, completed in 2005.

Akin Alabi, the creator of NairaBET.com, Nigeria’s pioneering sports betting bookmaking business, established the business in 2009. While NairaBET was not the very first sports betting platform in Nigeria, it was the very first to introduce a completely practical site, sports betting setting a criteria in the industry.

Femi Babalola- General Manager of 1Xbet Nigeria Limited

Femi Babalola is the Managing Director of 1XBET Nigeria Limited, a franchise of the international sports betting company based in Cyprus. 1XBET, founded in 2007 by the late Sergey Karshkov, has actually developed itself as one of the largest bookmakers in Europe and the world. The business runs in more than 50 countries, including Nigeria, where it is fully accredited.

Under Babalola’s management, 1XBET Nigeria has actually expanded its footprint in the competitive Nigerian sports betting market, providing a wide range of wagering alternatives and an easy to use platform. The 1XBET app has over 500,000 downloads on the Play Store.

Gossy Ukanwoke – CEO of Betking Nigeria

Gossy Ukanwoke is the CEO of BetKing, Managing Director of KingMakers, and Chairman of Vend Capital. In addition to leading these ventures, Ukanwoke has collaborated with African socio-economic institutions and governments to create developmental policies focused on empowering young people. In 2015, Ernst & & Young honoured him as the Winner of the Accelerating Category– World Entrepreneur of the Year.

BetKing, established and introduced in Nigeria on February 22, 2018, by Byron Petzer and Adekunle Adeniji, sports betting runs under the brand name of Lake Ventures Ltd. This pan-African sports betting wagering and sports betting entertainment business has quickly grown its presence in Nigeria, with outlets in significant cities and sports betting over 500,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.

In 2020, BetKing entered into a collaboration with the Lagos Employment Trust Fund, developing over 100,000 jobs, the number of which is increasing yearly. In the very same year, MultiChoice broadcaster purchased a 20% stake in BetKing, which was increased to 49% in 2021.

Denise Coates – CEO Bet 365

Denise Coates is a British billionaire businesswoman, the founder, bulk investor, and joint Chief Executive of Bet365, an online gambling company she established in 2000. Bet365.com was launched in 2001 as an online wagering site and has given that turned into among the world’s largest online sports betting companies.

By 2016, Bet365 generated $2 billion in incomes and facilitated $45 billion in annual bets. The business also holds a majority stake in Stoke City Football Club. Bet365 has actually gathered considerable user engagement, with over 1 million downloads on the Google Play Store.

Ayo Ojuroye – CEO/Cofounder Bet9ja

Ayo Ojuroye is the CEO and co-founder of Bet9ja, a leading sports betting wagering company in Nigeria, established alongside business owner Kunle Soname, who also owns Portuguese club CD Feirense and Nigerian club Remo Stars.

Ojuroye is also the Chairman of Mango Asset Management, an independent Nigerian possession management business that produces financial investment returns and offers unique financial investment insights and services to both individual and sports betting institutional clients.

Founded in 2012 under KC Gaming Networks, Bet9ja has actually rapidly grown in popularity, with over 1 million downloads on the Google Play Store. Under Ojuroye’s management, Bet9ja has ended up being a substantial player in the Nigerian sports betting market.

Fikayo Ogunfuye – Country Director 22bet

Fikayo Ogunfuye is an experienced specialist in the sports betting wagering industry. He has actually been working as the Country Director for sports betting 22BET in Nigeria given that June 2021. In this function, he has actually added to the company’s growth through partnerships, company method, and new company advancement.

Fikayo’s experience consists of roles such as Chief Operations Officer (West Africa) at 22BET, where he handled product advancement and consumer experience, and Country Manager at 22BET, concentrating on marketing strategy and budget management. Before 22BET, he led marketing efforts at LuckyBet.NG and held different digital marketing functions at Laclic Services and Betty Bingo.

His profession started at Jumia Group, where he operated in SEO, CRM, and content management. Fikayo likewise functioned as a Human Resource Officer at SIFAX Group.

He holds a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) in Management and Accounting from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology and a Master of Science (MS) in Business Administration, Management, and Operations from ESTG University in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

22Bet is an online gaming platform that provides sports betting wagering, sports betting casino games, and live dealership video games. It was released in 2017 and is owned and run by Marikit Holdings Ltd, a company signed up in Cyprus and a subsidiary of Orakum N.V.. They are also the owners of Betwinner and a chain of casinos worldwide.

Sudeep Ramnani– CEO Sportybet Group

Sudeep Ramnani is the Founder and CEO of SportyBet, a company he developed in 2013.

SportyBet is a worldwide sports betting and real-money gaming operator known for delivering an omni-channel home entertainment experience in controlled emerging markets. Under Ramnani’s leadership, SportyBet has actually ended up being a significant player in the market, with over 1 million downloads on the Google Play Store.

In addition to his role at SportyBet, Sudeep is an active investor in fintech and mobile payments and a strong supporter for sports betting the growing African internet ecosystem. His investments show his dedication to promoting development and development within the region.

On April 30, 2024, Sudeep Ramnani purchased Chowdeck, taking part in a seed round valued at $2.5 million.

The firm is set to interfere with the sports wagering industry.

Sunbet Sporting International Limited has stated it is concentrated on revolutionising how millions of Africans engage with sports betting. In a market worth over $1.5 billion yearly, with double-digit growth projection in the coming years, sports betting according to reports from the African Sports Betting Association and PwC, the firm aims to utilize innovative technology and a dedication to accountable gambling to revolutionise the sector.

Backed by the financial power of four prominent African billionaires, sports betting Sunbet, sports betting which will launch in the first quarter of 2025, intends to be the continent’s largest and most innovative sports betting platform.

At a press instruction, the company’s spokesperson, Akin Babatunde, stated that the increase in Internet penetration, mobile usage, and sports betting the continent’s deep enthusiasm for sports betting, specifically football, has set the stage for Sunbet’s ambitious entry. He added that the firm’s robust sponsorship and specialist group will allow it to scale and control the marketplace rapidly.

Islamic cops raid wagering stores in northern Nigeria

Islamic police in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano have actually begun closing down sports betting shops, which they say are operating illegally.

“As you understand, sports betting is forbidden in Islam,” Mujahid Aminudeen, deputy chief of the Sharia police, called the Hisbah, informed the BBC.

Problems from neighborhood leaders and moms and dads triggered the crackdown, stressed over the growing number of sports betting addicts, he said.

On the first day of raids, sports betting 30 stores were closed in one suburb alone, and their owners were sent out home with a warning, the Sharia officer stated.

However Mr Aminudeen alerted that now that the general public was aware that the Hisbah was clamping down on gaming, sports betting those flouting the guidelines would be jailed.

Kano city is the capital of Kano state, which has a majority Muslim population and operates the Islamic legal system – Sharia – alongside secular law.

Bookmakers and bars tend to be enabled to run in Kano’s Christian neighbourhoods, sports betting though they too can deal with action if the Hisbah believes Muslims are frequenting them.

However, the current crackdown is focused on Muslim areas of Kano, a vast city and the financial center of northern Nigeria.

sports betting wagering shops can be discovered all over the city. Many have television screens, and consumers enjoy the outcome of worldwide football matches or horse races on which they have actually staked cash.

Mr Aminudeen stated such bookies had had the ability to operate under the radar as they had actually opened under false pretences.

“They do not have licences to run as they were permitted to run computer game centres, which they later transformed to sports betting shops,” he said.

The sports betting industry has actually expanded considerably throughout West Africa in recent years. The region is approximately divided between a generally Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south.

Many individuals go to bookmakers to take pleasure in the sociability of other gamblers, though mobile apps are also popular for sports betting on the result of events and groups.

Nigeria’s crippling recession has also meant people are willing to risk a percentage in the hope of winning huge.

But this had actually led to extensive dependency, and moms and dads were even complaining that children were leaving of school to gamble, Mr Aminudeen said.

“These economic issues we are facing in Nigeria is God telling us to change our ways by stopping sins,” he said.

The raids on Tuesday concentrated on Munjibir, considered a resort area in the northeast of the city– visitors flock there at weekends.

“I am advising those running those wagering stores to either closed down or we’ll arrest them and take them to [a Sharia] court,” Mr Aminudeen said.

It is uncertain what penalty they would face – typically, such violations bring a fine.

Sharia was presented in Kano in 2000 – as it remained in 11 other Muslim-majority northern states – and prostitution, sports betting and the intake of alcohol were banned.