Innovation Amid Raids: Inside Nigeria’s Turbulent Sports Betting Industry

Meet CEOs/MDs of companies behind Nigeria’s $2 billion Sports wagering market.

has actually evolved considerably in Nigeria from traditional kinds like pool staking and Baba Ijebu to a flourishing sports betting industry. Historically tied to European football leagues, swimming pool staking was a common sight at motor parks and kiosks, where enthusiasts would wager just N50-N200 on matches.

Slowly, with increased web access came virtual wagering, which parallels international patterns. The sports betting wagering market is valued at $89.91 billion in 2023 and is predicted to nearly double to $182.02 billion by 2030.

In spite of financial obstacles such as inflation, Nigeria’s sports betting sector has actually thrived, attracting millions, specifically amongst the vibrant market facing high joblessness rates.

Reports indicate that roughly 60 million Nigerians aged 18-40 actively engage in sports betting wagering, driving an industry that generates an estimated annual earnings of N730 billion. The federal government has actually not gone unnoticed by this growth, which is thinking about regulatory steps like excise tasks and VAT increases to handle the sector.

The National Lottery Act of 2005 recognized regulatory bodies like the National Lottery Regulatory Commission to guarantee fair operations despite challenges in enforcement. Issues such as insufficient age confirmation and advertising guideline breaches reveal market regulative spaces.

Regardless of these obstacles, sports betting business continue to prosper through reliable business models and aggressive marketing methods, leveraging the developer influencer market.

These efforts have actually added to Nigeria’s robust $2 billion gaming sector, sports betting with CEOs playing crucial roles in broadening audience reach and sports betting driving industry development. Here are the CEOs of leading sports betting wagering companies who have actually significantly contributed to Nigeria’s $2 billion gaming empire through their extensive audience reach.

Sheriff Olaniyan – CEO Surebet247

Sheriff Olaniyan is the CEO of Surebet247, a sports betting book company he co-founded with Badmos Olasupo in 2011. His diverse profession spans numerous functions in the gaming and entertainment industry, sports betting consisting of operating at one of the United Kingdom’s largest gaming centres, The Palace Bingo Club, where he acted as the Lead Engineer in a Bingo and sports betting Bowling Club.

Olaniyan holds a BSc in Geography from the University of Ilorin and a Master’s in Geographical Information Systems from the University of Glamorgan, sports betting Wales. Surebet247, founded in August 2011, has turned into a leading e-commerce service in the sports betting and gaming sector, sports betting operating through online, mobile, and sports betting retail channels. The company was integrated in Nigeria on November 7, 2006, and has actually given that expanded its existence, attaining over 5,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.

Sam Sadi – CEO Livescorebet

Sam Sadi has more than 25 years of experience in sports betting brands and sports betting media. In 2019, he became the CEO of LiveScore Group, a completely incorporated environment that combines relevant sports betting content, engaging features, and a world-class sportsbook.

Considering that taking the helm right before the pandemic, Sam has actually driven substantial development for LiveScore Group. The company’s worker headcount has increased by 29%, and annual earnings has risen from around ₤ 10 million to over ₤ 80 million.

Sam’s leadership and tactical vision have actually moved LiveScore Group’s success and helped shape the industry’s instructions. LiveScoreBet has accomplished significant user engagement, with over 100,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.

Anthony Werkman – CEO of Betway Group

Anthony Werkman was appointed CEO of Betway in November 2017, having formerly functioned as the business’s Marketing and Operations Director considering that 2015. He signed up with Betway in 2013 and has been in the online video gaming industry since 2000, sports betting holding various effective roles, sports betting including General Manager of a data analytics group and Director sports betting of a digital marketing firm.

Under Werkman’s leadership, sports betting Betway has actually continued to grow its market presence and enhance its offerings. The business’s app has actually gathered considerable user engagement, with over 100,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.

Damilare Alabi, Co-Founder, Managing Director NairaBET

Damilare Alabi has actually differentiated herself as a senior sports betting executive with a performance history of changing start-ups into institutionalized businesses. Her competence spans the gaming, real estate, and sports betting credit lending industries, sports betting where he has actually developed himself as a tactical and functional leader.

Damilare has actually contributed in NairaBET’s success for over 14 years. Considering that June 2019, she has worked as Managing Director and has actually overseen the company’s development and operations in Lagos, Nigeria.

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

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

Akin Alabi, sports betting the founder of NairaBET.com, Nigeria’s pioneering sports betting bookmaking company, established business in 2009. While NairaBET was not the very first sports betting platform in Nigeria, it was the very first to introduce a fully functional website, setting a benchmark 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 global sports betting company based in Cyprus. 1XBET, founded in 2007 by the late Sergey Karshkov, has established itself as one of the biggest bookmakers in Europe and the world. The company operates in more than 50 nations, including Nigeria, where it is completely licensed.

Under Babalola’s leadership, 1XBET Nigeria has expanded its footprint in the competitive Nigerian sports betting market, using a wide range of sports betting options 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 endeavors, Ukanwoke has worked together with African socio-economic organizations and governments to develop developmental policies targeted at empowering youths. In 2015, Ernst & & Young honoured him as the Winner of the Accelerating Category– World Entrepreneur of the Year.

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

In 2020, BetKing entered into a partnership with the Lagos Employment Trust Fund, creating over 100,000 tasks, the variety of which is increasing each year. In the exact same year, MultiChoice broadcaster bought a 20% stake in BetKing, sports betting which was increased to 49% in 2021.

Denise Coates – CEO Bet 365

Denise Coates is a British billionaire businesswoman, the creator, sports betting majority shareholder, and joint Chief Executive of Bet365, an online sports betting business she developed in 2000. Bet365.com was released in 2001 as an online sports betting website and has given that become among the world’s biggest online gaming business.

By 2016, Bet365 generated $2 billion in earnings and helped with $45 billion in annual bets. The business likewise holds a majority stake in Stoke City Football Club. Bet365 has actually garnered significant 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, developed together with business owner Kunle Soname, sports betting who also owns Portuguese club CD Feirense and Nigerian club Remo Stars.

Ojuroye is also the Chairman of Mango Asset Management, an independent Nigerian asset management company that produces investment returns and offers special investment insights and solutions to both specific and sports betting institutional clients.

Founded in 2012 under KC Gaming Networks, Bet9ja has quickly grown in appeal, with over 1 million downloads on the Google Play Store. Under Ojuroye’s management, Bet9ja has become a substantial gamer in the Nigerian sports betting industry.

Fikayo Ogunfuye – Country Director 22bet

Fikayo Ogunfuye is a skilled specialist in the sports betting wagering market. He has actually been serving as the Country Director sports betting for 22BET in Nigeria given that June 2021. In this function, he has actually contributed to the business’s development through partnerships, company technique, sports betting and brand-new organization development.

Fikayo’s experience consists of roles such as Chief Operations Officer (West Africa) at 22BET, where he managed product advancement and customer experience, and sports betting Country Manager at 22BET, focusing on marketing method and budget plan management. Before 22BET, he led marketing efforts at LuckyBet.NG and held various digital marketing roles at Laclic Services and Betty Bingo.

His career started at Jumia Group, sports betting where he operated in SEO, CRM, and content management. Fikayo likewise served 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 gambling platform that offers sports betting wagering, gambling establishment games, and live dealer games. It was launched in 2017 and is owned and operated by Marikit Holdings Ltd, sports betting a company signed up in Cyprus and sports betting a subsidiary of Orakum N.V.. They are likewise the owners of Betwinner and a chain of casinos worldwide.

Sudeep Ramnani– CEO Sportybet Group

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

SportyBet is an international sports betting wagering and real-money video gaming operator understood for providing an omni-channel home entertainment experience in controlled emerging markets. Under Ramnani’s leadership, SportyBet has become a considerable gamer in the market, with over 1 million downloads on the Google Play Store.

In addition to his function at SportyBet, Sudeep is an active financier in fintech and sports betting mobile payments and a strong supporter for the growing African web community. His financial investments reflect his dedication to fostering innovation and development within the region.

On April 30, 2024, Sudeep Ramnani bought Chowdeck, participating in a seed round valued at $2.5 million.

The firm is set to interrupt the sports wagering market.

Sunbet Sporting International Limited has stated it is focused on changing how millions of Africans engage with sports betting. In an industry worth over $1.5 billion yearly, with double-digit growth forecast in the coming years, sports betting according to reports from the African Sports Betting Association and sports betting PwC, the company intends to take advantage of cutting-edge technology and a dedication to responsible gambling to change the sector.

Backed by the financial power of 4 prominent African billionaires, Sunbet, which will launch in the very first quarter of 2025, aims to be the continent’s largest and most innovative sports betting wagering platform.

At a press instruction, the business’s representative, sports betting Akin Babatunde, stated that the rise in Internet penetration, mobile use, and the continent’s deep passion for sports betting, particularly football, has actually set the stage for Sunbet’s enthusiastic entry. He added that the firm’s robust financial backing and specialist group will allow it to scale and control the marketplace quickly.

Islamic authorities raid wagering shops in northern Nigeria

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

“As you know, wagering is forbidden in Islam,” Mujahid Aminudeen, deputy chief of the Sharia police force, called the Hisbah, informed the BBC.

Problems from community leaders and moms and dads prompted the crackdown, sports betting fretted about the growing variety of sports betting addicts, he stated.

On the very first day of raids, 30 shops were closed in one residential area alone, and their owners were sent out home with a caution, the Sharia officer said.

However Mr Aminudeen cautioned that now that the public understood that the Hisbah was clamping down on gaming, those flouting the guidelines would be arrested.

Kano city is the capital of Kano state, which has a bulk Muslim population and runs the Islamic legal system – Sharia – together with secular law.

Bookies and bars tend to be allowed to run in Kano’s Christian areas, though they too can deal with action if the Hisbah thinks Muslims are frequenting them.

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

Sports betting stores can be discovered all over the city. The majority of have tv screens, and consumers view the outcome of worldwide football matches or sports betting horse races on which they have actually staked money.

Mr Aminudeen stated such bookmakers had been able to run under the radar as they had opened under false pretenses.

“They don’t have licences to operate as they were allowed to run computer game centres, which they later transformed to wagering stores,” he stated.

The sports betting wagering industry has actually expanded significantly throughout West Africa over the last few years. The area is approximately divided between a mainly Muslim north and a primarily Christian south.

Lots of people go to bookies to take pleasure in the friendship of other gamblers, though mobile apps are likewise popular for sports betting on the outcome of occasions and teams.

Nigeria’s crippling recession has likewise indicated people are willing to run the risk of a percentage in the hope of winning big.

However this had led to widespread dependency, sports betting and parents were even grumbling that children were leaving of school to gamble, Mr Aminudeen stated.

“These economic problems we are facing in Nigeria is God informing us to change our methods by stopping sins,” he said.

The raids on Tuesday concentrated on Munjibir, sports betting 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 apprehend them and take them to [a Sharia] court,” Mr Aminudeen said.

It is uncertain what penalty they would deal with – frequently, such violations bring a fine.

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