Disruption Amid Crackdown: Inside Nigeria’s Turbulent Sports Betting Landscape

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

Gambling has actually progressed considerably in Nigeria from conventional forms like pool staking and Baba Ijebu to a thriving 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 as little as N50-N200 on matches.

Slowly, with increased internet access came virtual sports betting, which parallels worldwide 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.

Despite economic obstacles such as inflation, Nigeria’s sports betting sector has actually flourished, bring in millions, especially amongst the younger market dealing with high unemployment rates.

Reports show that roughly 60 million Nigerians aged 18-40 actively take part in sports betting, driving an industry that generates an approximated annual earnings of N730 billion. The federal government has not gone unnoticed by this development, which is thinking about regulative measures like import tax duties and VAT boosts to handle the sector.

The National Lottery Act of 2005 established regulative bodies like the National Lottery Regulatory Commission to guarantee reasonable operations in spite of difficulties in enforcement. Issues such as inadequate age confirmation and advertising rule breaches reveal industry regulative spaces.

In spite of these challenges, sports betting wagering companies continue to prosper through effective organization models and aggressive marketing techniques, leveraging the creator influencer market.

These efforts have contributed to Nigeria’s robust $2 billion gambling sector, with CEOs playing important roles in expanding audience reach and driving industry growth. Here are the CEOs of leading sports betting business who have significantly contributed 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 business he co-founded with Badmos Olasupo in 2011. His varied profession covers various roles in the video gaming and show business, consisting of operating at one of the United Kingdom’s biggest video 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 University of Glamorgan, Wales. Surebet247, founded in August 2011, has actually turned into a leading e-commerce company in the wagering and gaming sector, running through online, mobile, and retail channels. The company was integrated in Nigeria on November 7, 2006, and has since expanded its existence, achieving over 5,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.

Sam Sadi – CEO Livescorebet

Sam Sadi has over 25 years of experience in wagering brand names and sports betting media. In 2019, he became the CEO of LiveScore Group, a totally incorporated ecosystem that integrates appropriate sports betting content, engaging features, and a first-rate sportsbook.

Because taking the helm right before the pandemic, Sam has driven significant growth for LiveScore Group. The company’s worker headcount has increased by 29%, and annual profits has surged from roughly ₤ 10 million to over ₤ 80 million.

Sam’s leadership and sports betting tactical vision have actually propelled LiveScore Group’s success and helped shape the industry’s direction. 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 selected CEO of Betway in November 2017, having actually formerly worked as the company’s Marketing and Operations Director given that 2015. He joined Betway in 2013 and has actually remained in the online gaming industry since 2000, holding various successful roles, consisting of General Manager of a data analytics team and sports betting Director sports betting of a digital marketing agency.

Under Werkman’s leadership, Betway has continued to grow its market existence and boost its offerings. The company’s app has actually amassed considerable 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 transforming start-ups into institutionalized businesses. Her know-how covers the gaming, real estate, sports betting and credit loaning markets, where he has actually developed himself as a tactical and functional leader.

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

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

She established DearDammy Women’s Initiative (DDWIN), a non-profit organization empowering women-owned companies. DDWIN supplies frHer educational background consists of a Bachelor’s degree in Geology/Earth Science from the University of Ibadan, finished in 2005.

Akin Alabi, the creator of NairaBET.com, Nigeria’s pioneering sports betting bookmaking business, developed business in 2009. While NairaBET was not the first sports betting platform in Nigeria, it was the first to launch a fully functional site, setting a criteria in the industry.

Femi Babalola- General Manager of 1Xbet Nigeria Limited

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

Under Babalola’s leadership, 1XBET Nigeria has expanded its footprint in the competitive Nigerian sports betting market, providing a vast array of wagering alternatives and sports betting an user-friendly platform. The 1XBET app has more than 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 organizations and federal governments to create developmental policies aimed at empowering young people. In 2015, Ernst & & Young honoured him as the Winner of the Accelerating Category– World Entrepreneur of the Year.

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

In 2020, BetKing participated in a collaboration with the Lagos Employment Trust Fund, developing over 100,000 tasks, the number of which is increasing each year. In the same year, sports betting 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, majority investor, and joint Chief Executive of Bet365, an online gambling company she developed in 2000. Bet365.com was introduced in 2001 as an online wagering site and has given that grown into among the world’s largest online gaming business.

By 2016, Bet365 generated $2 billion in profits and facilitated $45 billion in annual bets. The company likewise holds a majority 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 sports betting co-founder of Bet9ja, a leading sports betting wagering business in Nigeria, sports betting established 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 possession management business that generates financial investment returns and provides special investment insights and options to both specific and sports betting institutional customers.

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

Fikayo Ogunfuye – Country Director 22bet

Fikayo Ogunfuye is a skilled specialist in the sports betting wagering industry. He has been working as the Country Director for 22BET in Nigeria since June 2021. In this function, he has actually contributed to the business’s development through collaborations, service technique, and brand-new service advancement.

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

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

22Bet is an online sports betting platform that uses sports betting wagering, gambling establishment video games, and live dealer games. It was launched in 2017 and is owned and operated by Marikit Holdings Ltd, a business signed up in Cyprus and a subsidiary of Orakum N.V.. They are also 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, sports betting a business he established in 2013.

SportyBet is an international sports betting and sports betting real-money video gaming operator understood for sports betting delivering an omni-channel entertainment experience in regulated emerging markets. Under Ramnani’s management, sports betting SportyBet has ended up being 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 investor in fintech and mobile payments and a strong advocate for the growing African internet ecosystem. His financial investments reflect his commitment to cultivating innovation and development within the region.

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

The firm is set to disrupt the sports betting industry.

Sunbet Sporting International Limited has said it is concentrated on revolutionising how millions of Africans engage with sports betting. In a market worth over $1.5 billion annual, with double-digit development projection in the coming years, according to reports from the African Sports Betting Association and sports betting PwC, the company aims to leverage innovative technology and a commitment to responsible gambling to change the sector.

Backed by the monetary power of four prominent African billionaires, Sunbet, which will introduce in the very first quarter of 2025, intends to be the continent’s biggest and most ingenious sports betting wagering platform.

At a press rundown, the business’s representative, Akin Babatunde, said that the rise in Internet penetration, mobile use, sports betting and the continent’s deep enthusiasm for sports betting, sports betting particularly football, has set the stage for Sunbet’s ambitious entry. He included that the firm’s robust financial backing and expert team will allow it to scale and control the marketplace quickly.

Islamic authorities raid betting shops in northern Nigeria

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

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

Problems from neighborhood leaders and moms and dads triggered the crackdown, worried about the growing number of gambling addicts, he said.

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

But Mr Aminudeen warned that now that the general public was aware that the Hisbah was clamping down on sports betting, sports betting those flouting the rules would be detained.

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

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

However, the existing crackdown is on Muslim areas of Kano, a sprawling city and the economic hub of northern Nigeria.

sports betting wagering stores can be discovered all over the city. Many have television screens, and customers see the outcome of international football matches or horse races on which they have staked cash.

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

“They don’t have licences to run as they were allowed to run computer game centres, which they later converted to sports betting stores,” he said.

The sports betting wagering industry has actually broadened dramatically across West Africa in the last few years. The area is approximately divided in between a primarily Muslim north and a mainly Christian south.

Many people go to bookmakers to take pleasure in the friendship of other gamblers, though mobile apps are also popular for wagering on the result of events and groups.

Nigeria’s crippling economic crisis has also implied individuals are willing to run the risk of a small amount in the hope of winning huge.

But this had led to widespread dependency, and parents were even grumbling that kids were leaving of school to gamble, Mr Aminudeen stated.

“These financial problems we are facing in Nigeria is God telling us to change our ways by stopping sins,” he stated.

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

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

It is unclear what punishment they would deal with – often, such violations bring a fine.

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