Simon Gregory, CEO of SunBet, posits that the substantial land-based presence of its parent company, Sun International, grants it a significant edge in the competitive online gambling landscape of South Africa.
SunBet operates not only in its home country but also in Namibia and Botswana, with ambitions to significantly increase its online market share against dominant players like Betway and Hollywoodbets.
“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,” Gregory stated in an interview following the recent half-year earnings report. He estimates that SunBet ranks as the third or fourth largest online gaming provider in South Africa, trailing behind the more established brands.
Betway entered the South African market in 2017, while Hollywoodbets has been operational since 2006. Despite not yet breaking into the top two, Gregory remains optimistic, citing SunBet's integrated offerings as a solid foundation to effectively compete in the online market.
To bolster its digital presence, SunBet is capitalizing on its established land-based loyalty program. Sun International, which holds approximately 50% of the land-based market, operates 11 casinos spread across eight of South Africa's nine provinces.
Gregory described the collaboration between SunBet and Sun International as mutually advantageous, enhancing each other’s strengths through various omnichannel strategies. “We have certainly benefitted, or both of us have benefitted from an omnichannel solution,” he explained. “We're able to trade off the strong cultural heritage that Sun International has in the gaming space.”
He highlighted that the company’s substantial footprint in the casino industry in South Africa enables them to provide a trusted online brand, allowing land-based customers to receive the same rewards when they engage with SunBet online.
These sentiments align with those expressed by Ulrik Bengtsson, the CEO of Sun International, who remarked in May on the growing discussion around a unified customer ecosystem that benefits both gaming segments.
The online competition in South Africa is notably intense. In its recent H1 earnings report, Sun International announced a group revenue increase of 7.4% to R6.58 billion ($400.4 million), driven by a substantial 35.5% year-on-year increase in SunBet's revenue to R1.18 billion. The land-based sector also reported growth for the first time in three years.
During the earnings call, Bengtsson pointed out a significant opportunity to convert more land-based patrons into SunBet users. Gregory explained that this strategy is largely dependent on leveraging the extensive customer database and the well-established loyalty program of Sun International.
“Look, we're fortunate to have a large database of gamblers,” he noted. “We've got the oldest loyalty program in the country, I think, of any industry. So we have 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.”
