Simon Gregory, CEO of SunBet, has articulated the operator's strategy to enhance its position in South Africa's online betting market through significant technology and product investment. This initiative follows a bold announcement by Sun International's CEO, Ulrik Bengtsson, during the Capital Markets Day, who outlined plans to double SunBet's current online market share of 4.5% within the next five years.
In the time since, SunBet has expanded its operations into Namibia, while Sun International reported a remarkable 35.5% year-over-year increase in revenue from its online platform for the first half of 2026.
Gregory acknowledges the challenge of achieving such an ambitious target but remains optimistic. "I don't have any problem with setting out big targets and big ambitions. And if you can get some way towards that, you’ll have done nicely. It’s a journey, not a target, right?" he told iGB.
Though the progress of SunBet’s strategy is somewhat obscure, Gregory noted that Sun International and competitor Betway, part of Super Group, are currently the only publicly listed online operators in the region. He asserts that SunBet has made progress since the growth plans were established, even while facing competition from established leaders like Betway and Hollywoodbets.
"We’ve got small [online] market share, somewhere in the region of 3% to 5%, so there’s plenty to go after," Gregory explained. "We are probably third or fourth in the market right now. The two incumbents have got massive market share, Betway and Hollywoodbets, so there is opportunity to take market share from them.
“And I think there is a long tail of smaller operators that I think in the longer term will find it more difficult to compete with the bigger guys in terms of market reach and product offering."
At the Capital Markets Day, Bengtsson stated that the focus would be on increasing market share aggressively through advancements in technology and product features. When discussing the specific strategies for doubling market share, Gregory reiterated, "Product is going to be key and having an outstanding product, which is technically efficient and easy to use and fully available and scalable, is going to be paramount to winning in any of these markets.
“Technically, it requires us to be world-class. And those technical innovations always take time. But we’re going to need to invest heavily in our technology and our product to make it better."
Gregory emphasized the importance of being both good and popular, stating, "Someone said to me, there’s a difference between being good and being popular, right? But we need to be both. So first, we need to get good, and then we need to get popular."
Investment will largely focus on enhancing SunBet’s technological infrastructure and bringing more functions in-house to increase efficiency and control.
"We need to be fully scalable, efficient, have an outstanding UI, UX, have a great range of products, have features and functionality," he indicated, highlighting the areas ripe for improvement in their services.
In terms of product offerings, the earnings call after Sun International’s H1 results revealed that SunBet’s revenue split between casino and sports betting stands at approximately 90% to 10% in favor of casino games. Gregory acknowledged that while the operator has historically focused more on casino offerings due to its heritage, there is a clear initiative to bolster the sportsbook segment as well.
"We’re certainly under-indexed on sport, and that’s probably due to the growth in our casino business. But we are certainly putting a lot of effort into reimagining our sportsbook to see if we can grow that number," he explained.
Enhancements to SunBet’s sportsbook are already underway, with plans for improvements set to be revealed in December. "We’ve put in a whole lot of software, some StatScore products, and we’ve got a program to improve the UI and UX over the next six weeks," he stated.
SunBet’s entry into Namibia marks its third market following Botswana and South Africa, with licenses also secured in Ghana, Zambia, and Kenya—though operations have yet to launch in those nations. Gregory expressed the company’s intention to take a careful approach to further expansion, focusing presently on growth in Namibia.
"We’re cautious about other greenfield African expansions. You’ve seen a lot of European companies come in, spend a lot of money in Africa, not get much traction, and leave," he remarked.
Bengtsson has mentioned potential inorganic growth opportunities both within and outside South Africa, maintaining that the company employs a high threshold for investments that would enhance its growth. Gregory indicated that mergers and acquisitions might be a viable route to enter new markets if they meet certain criteria regarding data like internet penetration and mobile money usage.
"We’ve been pretty clear in our public statements that we would be interested in high-quality M&A, which would provide us with critical mass in specific regions," he noted. "So a top three player in certain African jurisdictions that has a strong customer base and brand could be interesting for us."
Balancing the goal of doubling its market share in South Africa with expansion plans elsewhere, Gregory emphasized that the two objectives can be pursued simultaneously. "We can do well in both. It’s just a matter of resourcing," he concluded.
