The Race Is On To Become Nigeria’s Biggest Sportsbook (See How)

Gambling is a boom industry in Nigeria. With a growing economy and digital literacy on the rise, it’s not hard to see why.

The practice has always been big, we now see a perfect storm in terms of climate in the country to see sports betting really take off – even more so than it has already.

Today we take a look at the trends in Nigeria that are all pointing towards sport betting, and in particular online sports betting, being a huge industry in the next 10 years.

Gambling as a growth industry in Nigeria

Nigeria is experiencing rapid growth within the gaming sector due to a number of different seemingly un-gambling related factors affecting the country overall.

According to a recent reported survey, 60 million people in Nigeria are involved in some form of sports betting – that’s almost a third of the population – spending on average 3,000 Naira a day, or around 15USD, although this figure obviously varies widely from person to person, town to town, and region to region.

Growing smartphone adoption

There has been a huge year-on-year surge in mobile adoption in 2017, with 84% of the population now with the power of mobile in their hands, as compared to just 53% in 2016, according to theJumia Nigeria Mobile Report 2018.

However, only 13% of these are smartphone users – 21 million people. This is sure to grow in the coming years, particularly as handset costs drop and the second-hand smartphone market grows. Jumia has seen sales of smartphones go up by 70% in just one year from 2016 to 2017.

Let’s take a look at the landscape in the UK, for instance. According to the UK Gambling Commission, remote gambling via mobile devices has been growing significantly over the past few years, now accounting for around 40% of operators’ gross gambling yield as a total of remote betting, and is expected to hit over 50% by 2020. Currently, over 85% of the adult population in the UK own a smartphone.

It’s expected that burgeoning smartphone adoption within Nigeria will have a similar effect on mobile gambling statistics – particularly among the younger generation.

The mobile-first generation

Think With Google has clearly outlined the state of play for mobile when it comes to generational differences. As they put it, “Millennials were mobile pioneers, teens are mobile natives”. While this is true in the US in particular, international influences are now affecting emerging markets such as Nigeria.

The effects of exposure to international media and the internet will drive the younger generation in Nigeria to also adopt this mobile-first social policy.

You can see the effect of this younger generational mobile-first ethos on the betting landscape in the UK.

If we check back over with the report by the UK Gambling Commission, we can see that 71% of online gamblers aged 18-24 bet via mobile in the self-reported 4 week period in 2017 – up from 45% in 2015.

Comparable is 70% up from 50% in the 25-34 age bracket, and 63% up from 40% in the 35-44 age bracket.

Under 35s are the biggest market when it comes smartphone gambling, with use growing significantly, which is sure to continue. It’s expected that these trends will also be reflected in Nigeria.

It’s of particular note that they majority of the population in Nigeria are 14 years of age and younger. With these youth-skewed demographics, this means that mobile is going to feature heavily in these now-children’s lives – as they turn into adults.

Generation Z significantly different to those that came before them. In Africa this is even a bigger factor due to the % of the population falling into this category.

A country fuelled by football

You can’t go anywhere in Nigeria without seeing kids kick around a football on the street, people glued to the TV watching a match (even if it’s being played halfway across the world), and people stepping into a betting shop to place a bet on the latest game.

Nigerians are not only excelling in soccer in Nigeria, recruitment for professional teams across the entire world is huge, and rising. It’s a high physical ability, partnered with dogged determination and practice, practice, practice that is sending Nigerians to the top of the international football competitions – and indeed other sports, too.

As the President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, put it: “I was told that in Nigeria, football is passion, but it is a lie because it is more than that.

In Nigeria, I was told that football is love, but it is a lie. It is more than that. In Nigeria, I was told that football is a religion, but it is a lie. It is more than that. In Nigeria, football is life.”

Playing football, watching football, talking about football, and indeed betting on football are ingrained in this football-mad country, whether it’s following the local under 17’s or the UK Premier League.

People may follow many multiple teams at once and have a fierce passion and loyalty of the type that’s generally only reserved for family.

The perfect opportunity for sportsbook success

It is these key ingredients that have companies in the sportsbook market already, either locally or offshore, as well as possible new entrants into the market, licking their lips in anticipation of the profits to be made from sports betting within the country.

A well-run sportsbook seems like a sure way to make money given the current conditions and anticipation of future trends within the mobile and gambling sphere. This hasn’t escaped the notice of clever industry trend readers, who have prophesized about this upswing in Nigeria for around ten years or so.

That being said, it’s currently physical bookmakers that are taking the majority of sports bets within Nigeria still. Currently, internet penetration still stands at only 51% of the population, however, this figure is slowly rising, and will continue to do so.

As internet usage increases, we are very likely to see a shift from traditional storefront bookmakers over to internet placed sports bets. As we’ve seen in other markets, there will always be a market for physical bookmakers to exist – for the atmosphere and experience, particularly if the games are showing – however for those watching online or in front of a TV at someone’s house, internet bets will be the method through which gambling is conducted.

While traditionally, sports betting has been done via small bookmakers in Nigeria, this is changing, too.

Huge companies are in the bookmaking business and are doing a roaring trade, particularly in the online betting sphere, internationally, and many are expanding across Africa. And because by design, internet gambling can be done by anyone, from anywhere, this opens up the whole world as a market for international sports betting houses. Needless to say, there is a huge amount of interest in Nigeria from international bookmakers for this very reason.

In the years to come, small corner bookmakers are likely to get squeezed out, replaced by big bookies with the funds to back them – whether they be international houses or something dreamed up from an alliance within the country.

There is no doubt that there is huge money to be made within the sports betting industry in Nigeria in the coming years. Which bookmakers will come out on top and which will fade into the shadows? It remains to be seen, however we do advise that you watch this space.