SunBet’s CEO Simon Gregory believes that its parent company, Sun International, offers a significant advantage in the competitive online betting landscape of South Africa due to its established land-based presence. SunBet operates in South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana, and Gregory aims to double its online market share, despite facing competition from prominent players such as Betway and Hollywoodbets.
In a recent interview following the release of H1 earnings, Gregory acknowledged, “We’re not as big as Betway or Hollywoodbets, but we have a solution that is highly competitive with those, and we can offer more rewards and harmonize their gambling play between the casinos online.” He estimates that SunBet currently ranks as the “probably third or fourth” largest online betting platform in South Africa, trailing the two market leaders. Notably, Betway established its operations in the country in 2017, while Hollywoodbets has been active since 2006.
Despite not securing a top two position yet, Gregory contends that SunBet's integrated services provide a solid foundation for competing with these established brands. To strengthen its digital offerings, the company is capitalizing on its robust land-based loyalty program. Sun International holds a commanding share of approximately 50% of the South African land-based market, operating 11 casinos across eight provinces.
Gregory described the synergy between SunBet and Sun International’s physical operations as mutually advantageous, enhancing each through various omnichannel efforts. "We have certainly benefitted, or both of us have benefitted from an omnichannel solution," he remarked. "We’re able to trade off the strong cultural heritage that Sun International has in the gaming space. We have nigh on 50% of the casino industry in South Africa, and that certainly enabled us to provide a trusted, branded solution online and allow land-based customers to play with us, get the same rewards, and harmonize that product offering over the online solution."
His perspective is mirrored by Sun International CEO Ulrik Bengtsson, who noted in May that they are moving towards creating a comprehensive customer ecosystem that synergizes offers and manages clientele across platforms.
In its latest H1 earnings report, Sun International announced a group income increase of 7.4% to R6.58 billion ($400.4 million). This growth was significantly bolstered by a remarkable 35.5% rise in SunBet’s revenue, reaching R1.18 billion, as its land-based segment returned to growth for the first time in three years.
During the post-H1 earnings call, Bengtsson pointed out the potential to convert more of Sun International’s land-based clients into active SunBet users. Gregory emphasized that the strategy for this conversion relies on tapping into the existing customer database and leveraging the long-standing loyalty program of Sun International. "Look, we’re fortunate to have a large database of gamblers," he stated. "We’ve got the oldest loyalty programme in the country, I think, of any industry. So we’ve got a large database, and we’ve been making sure that Sun International’s land-based customers are aware that Sun International has an online offering that is attractive and competitive."
