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While MultiChoice continues to face challenges with declining interest in its Pay-TV services, its sports betting subsidiary, KingMakers, has experienced remarkable growth in the past year. For the financial year ending March 31, 2025, KingMakers reported a 76% increase in revenue, reaching $106 million.
The company has attributed this growth to a significant improvement in the operational performance of its Nigerian business. “BetKing Nigeria has maintained strong momentum. It is acquiring better quality first-time betters, as evidenced by the higher average wager per user, and is enjoying significant growth in its higher-margin online business,” Multichoice stated.
While BetMakers did not share exact numbers for its customer growth, it did report an increase of 37% in Nigerian betting customers and a further 26% increase in revenue for 2024.
Naira Volatility Affected Revenues
Despite promising numbers for KingMakers, Multichoice reported that it faced significant challenges due to the instability of the Nigerian Naira, resulting in a 30% decrease in revenue to $103 million.
“The Nigerian business remained EBITDA positive, but the investment to launch SuperSportBet in South Africa and the effects of a much weaker Naira resulted in an EBITDA loss for KingMakers of USD9 million, compared to a profit of USD3 million in the prior year,” the company stated.
“The business is sufficiently capitalised to fund its growth ambition and held cash balances of USD97 million at the end of December.”
Multichoice entered the Nigerian market in 2020 by acquiring a 20% stake in BetKing, now KingMakers, for R1.3 billion. In 2021, it increased its stake to 49% for $281.5 million, raising the total value of its investment to R5.9 billion.
The company’s strategy focuses on using its extensive sports coverage to enhance the betting business. Internal data reveals that 77% of DStv subscribers are active bettors or engage in match predictions, providing a significant customer base for KingMakers.
According to a KMPG report, Africa’s gambling market was projected to reach $37 billion by 2022, with sports betting driving much of that growth. The forecast also suggests that sports betting will account for a significant portion of the Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR), expected to rise by 17% by 2027, with online betting revenues growing from $2.9 billion to $5.5 billion. Multichoice has pointed to these impressive growth projections as a key factor in its acquisition strategy.
Source: Nairametrics
