Northern Raids, South Disruption: Nigeria’s Sports Betting Industry in Transition

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

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

Gradually, with increased internet access came virtual sports betting, which parallels international patterns. The sports betting market is valued at $89.91 billion in 2023 and is forecasted to almost double to $182.02 billion by 2030.

In spite of financial difficulties such as inflation, Nigeria’s sports betting sector has flourished, bring in millions, particularly among the vibrant market facing high joblessness rates.

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

The National Lottery Act of 2005 recognized regulatory bodies like the National Lottery Regulatory Commission to guarantee reasonable operations despite difficulties in enforcement. Problems such as inadequate age verification and advertising rule breaches show market regulatory spaces.

In spite of these challenges, sports betting wagering companies continue to thrive through effective business models and aggressive marketing strategies, leveraging the creator influencer industry.

These efforts have actually added to Nigeria’s robust $2 billion gambling sector, with CEOs playing essential functions in expanding audience reach and driving industry growth. Here are the CEOs of leading sports betting wagering business who have considerably added to Nigeria’s $2 billion gaming empire through their comprehensive 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 career spans numerous functions in the video gaming and entertainment industry, including operating at among the United Kingdom’s biggest gaming centres, The Palace Bingo Club, where he acted 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 University of Glamorgan, Wales. Surebet247, founded in August 2011, has actually turned into a leading e-commerce service in the sports betting and video gaming sector, operating through online, mobile, and retail channels. The business was incorporated in Nigeria on November 7, 2006, sports betting and has actually given that broadened its existence, attaining over 5,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.

Sam Sadi – CEO Livescorebet

Sam Sadi has over 25 years of experience in sports betting brands and sports betting media. In 2019, he became the CEO of LiveScore Group, a fully incorporated community that combines appropriate sports betting material, engaging functions, and a first-rate sportsbook.

Since taking the helm prior to the pandemic, Sam has driven significant development for LiveScore Group. The company’s employee headcount has actually increased by 29%, sports betting and annual revenue has actually surged from roughly ₤ 10 million to over ₤ 80 million.

Sam’s management and sports betting tactical vision have moved LiveScore Group’s success and assisted form the industry’s direction. 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 designated CEO of Betway in November 2017, having previously functioned as the business’s Marketing and Operations Director given that 2015. He joined Betway in 2013 and has actually been in the online video gaming industry because 2000, holding various effective functions, including General Manager of an information analytics team and Director of a digital marketing agency.

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

Damilare Alabi, Co-Founder, Managing Director NairaBET

Damilare Alabi has actually identified herself as a senior executive with a track record of changing start-ups into institutionalized organizations. Her expertise spans the video gaming, property, and credit lending industries, where he has actually established himself as a tactical and functional leader.

Damilare has actually been instrumental in NairaBET’s success for over 14 years. Considering that June 2019, she has actually acted as Managing Director and has actually overseen the business’s growth and operations in Lagos, Nigeria.

Before this, sports betting she was the Chief Operating Officer from 2010 to June 2019, sports betting pivotal in the business’s operational techniques and sports betting market growth.

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

Akin Alabi, the founder of NairaBET.com, Nigeria’s pioneering sports betting bookmaking business, established business in 2009. While NairaBET was not the first sports betting platform in Nigeria, it was the first to introduce a totally practical website, setting a standard in the market.

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 established itself as one of the largest bookmakers in Europe and the world. The company runs in more than 50 countries, including Nigeria, where it is fully accredited.

Under Babalola’s leadership, 1XBET Nigeria has broadened its footprint in the competitive Nigerian sports betting market, providing a vast array of sports betting options and an user-friendly 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 actually worked together with African socio-economic institutions and federal 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 released 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 home entertainment business has actually rapidly grown its existence in Nigeria, sports betting with outlets in significant cities and over 500,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.

In 2020, BetKing participated in a partnership with the Lagos Employment Trust Fund, developing over 100,000 jobs, the variety of which is increasing yearly. In the same year, MultiChoice broadcaster bought a 20% stake in BetKing, which was increased to 49% in 2021.

Denise Coates – CEO Bet 365

Denise Coates is a British billionaire businesswoman, sports betting the creator, bulk investor, sports betting and joint Chief Executive of Bet365, an online gaming business she developed in 2000. Bet365.com was introduced in 2001 as an online wagering site and has since become one of the world’s biggest online gambling business.

By 2016, Bet365 generated $2 billion in profits and assisted in $45 billion in annual bets. The company also holds a bulk stake in Stoke City Football Club. Bet365 has 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 business in Nigeria, developed together with business person 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 asset management business that creates investment returns and offers special financial investment insights and options to both individual and institutional clients.

Founded in 2012 under KC Gaming Networks, Bet9ja has rapidly grown in popularity, with over 1 million downloads on the Google Play Store. Under Ojuroye’s leadership, Bet9ja has actually become a considerable player in the Nigerian sports betting wagering market.

Fikayo Ogunfuye – Country Director 22bet

Fikayo Ogunfuye is a seasoned expert in the sports betting wagering market. He has been working as the Country Director for 22BET in Nigeria since June 2021. In this role, he has added to the business’s growth through collaborations, sports betting organization strategy, and new company development.

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

His career started at Jumia Group, where he operated in SEO, CRM, and content management. Fikayo also acted 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 sports betting a Master of Science (MS) in Business Administration, Management, and sports betting Operations from ESTG University in Cotonou, sports betting Benin Republic.

22Bet is an online gaming platform that offers sports betting, casino games, and live dealership video games. It was introduced in 2017 and is owned and run by Marikit Holdings Ltd, a business signed up in Cyprus and sports betting a subsidiary of Orakum N.V.. They are likewise the owners of Betwinner and a chain of gambling establishments worldwide.

Sudeep Ramnani– CEO Sportybet Group

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

SportyBet is a global sports betting and real-money video gaming operator understood for sports betting delivering an omni-channel entertainment experience in regulated emerging markets. Under Ramnani’s management, SportyBet has ended up being a significant gamer in the industry, with over 1 million downloads on the Google Play Store.

In addition to his role at SportyBet, Sudeep is an active financier in fintech and mobile payments and a strong advocate for the growing African web ecosystem. His financial investments show his commitment to cultivating development and development within the area.

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

The company is set to disrupt the sports betting market.

Sunbet Sporting International Limited has said it is concentrated on changing how countless Africans engage with sports betting. In a market worth over $1.5 billion annual, with double-digit growth projection in the coming years, sports betting according to reports from the African Sports Betting Association and PwC, the company intends to leverage advanced innovation and a commitment to responsible sports betting to change the sector.

Backed by the monetary power of 4 popular African billionaires, Sunbet, which will release in the very first quarter of 2025, intends to be the continent’s largest and most ingenious sports betting wagering platform.

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

Islamic authorities raid wagering shops in northern Nigeria

Islamic police in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano have actually started closing down sports betting wagering stores, which they state are running illegally.

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

Grievances from community leaders and parents triggered the crackdown, stressed over the growing variety of sports betting addicts, he said.

On the first day of raids, sports betting 30 stores were closed in one suburban area alone, and sports betting their owners were sent out home with a caution, the Sharia officer said.

However Mr Aminudeen warned that now that the general public was aware that the Hisbah was clamping down on gambling, those flouting the guidelines would be jailed.

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

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

Nevertheless, the current crackdown is concentrated on Muslim locations of Kano, a vast city and the economic center of northern Nigeria.

sports betting wagering stores can be found all over the city. The majority of have tv screens, and customers enjoy the outcome of global football matches or horse races on which they have actually staked cash.

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

“They do not have licences to run as they were permitted to run video games centres, which they later transformed to wagering shops,” he stated.

The sports betting market has actually broadened dramatically throughout West Africa in the last few years. The area is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and a mainly Christian south.

Many individuals go to bookies to delight in the camaraderie of other gamblers, though mobile apps are also popular for sports betting on the result of events and groups.

Nigeria’s crippling recession has likewise suggested people want to risk a percentage in the hope of winning big.

However this had actually led to widespread addiction, and sports betting moms and dads were even grumbling that kids were dropping out of school to bet, Mr Aminudeen said.

“These financial concerns we are facing in Nigeria is God telling us to alter our methods by stopping sins,” he stated.

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

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

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

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