When you think of the top sports betting and Virtual Sports betting markets in the world today, Africa usually doesn’t come into the reckoning. Many people tend to assume it is places like Europe, Asia, and the emerging market in North America that is the driving force within the industries.
However, that could well be about to change as recent research has shown that the African betting industry is in rude health at the moment, undergoing incredible development over the last few years. So much so that Johannesburg hosted the first ICE Totally Gaming conference back in 2018, which was attended by representatives from just under 30 African nations and which was such a roaring success that it is now an annual event.
Now you may assume that sports betting is the key driving factor behind this huge swell in popularity in forms of betting, but research is showing that Virtual Sports betting makes up around half of all bets placed in the sports betting industry.
That is a stunning figure as even though the market in Africa has expanded very quickly in recent times, it is still a relatively new market for many operators and the potential for expansion in the region is huge. Many even feel it has the potential to become one of the largest and most lucrative online gambling markets in the world.
Read also: Betway Ready for Global Bet Virtual Sports Launch in Africa
Africa’s Emerging Betting Markets
As the success of the ICE Africa event has shown, Africans certainly do have a taste for betting and in particular Virtual Sports betting. Yet this is incredible when you consider that, in technological terms at least, Africa still lags some way behind other parts of the world in terms of Internet availability, speed and connectivity.
Due to this, the number of people with access to the Internet in Africa remains below the average for the rest of the world (39.3% in Africa, 58.7% for the world), but what is incredible is that almost a third of the contracts taken out for smartphones are done so in Africa.
It does not take a genius to work out that this means the market in Africa has potential for enormous growth and it seems that Virtual Sports betting is going to be a key factor in that.
Virtual Sports in South Africa
Research from Golden Race, one of the leading Virtual Sports betting providers across the African continent and indeed globally, has shown that Virtual Sports players tend to be male between the ages of 18 and 40. Their most popular choice for both sports betting and Virtual Sports betting is the sport of football with the English Premier League, La Liga in Spain as well as major international tournaments, alongside Virtual Football betting, being their preferred options.
With a market share of over 80% of Africa, Golden Race’s Virtual Sports betting options are proving to be a huge hit, with the company working closely with casinos to ensure that their customers get to play the games and can access the bets they want to make.
As Africa gains greater connectivity, increases the average speed of connections and expands the range where connections are possible, this burgeoning market for virtual and real sports betting will only continue to grow in the future.
