MultiChoice to Raise Stake in Nigeria’s Sports Betting Brand, BetKing

Africa’s pay-TV giant, MultiChoice, has indicated that it might increase its stake in the Nigerian sports betting brand, BetKing.

According to Calvo Mawela, CEO of MultiChoice, the company’s decision to raise its stake in BetKing would be dependent on how impressively the betting firm implements its current growth strategies.

“We will look at opportunities to raise the stake,” Mawela told theAfricaReport in Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest city. He hopes to see an exponential growth in BetKing’s Nigerian audience as seen in South Africa, where viewership impressively grew and led to an expansion in the peri-urban areas.

In November, MultiChoice coughed out $81 million to buy 20% of BetKing, with an additional $31 million payment tied to the betting brand’s performance. The company said its partnership with BetKing is in alignment with its strategy to focus on sports coverage and local content.

With the rate of unemployment in Nigeria hitting the roof as a result of an economic somersault, majorly occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigerian youth have resorted to sports betting to earn a living, and inevitably falling into the addiction realm.

According to Nairametrics, it is estimated that 60 million Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 40 are involved in active sports betting.

However, for Mawela, it’s about the business opportunities in sports betting as he believes it improves viewer engagement. “It’s an adjacent, complementary business” which “will be a very important business in the future.”

Joining a couple of other sports betting companies in Nigeria, BetKing launched in February 2018. The company also has operations in Kenya and Ethiopia.