JULIUS BAUMANN

Aviation and Tourism Editor

THE World Cup is likely to provide a huge boost to betting groups around the world as well as in SA, highlighting the rapid growth in sports betting, particularly on soccer, in recent years.

“Soccer now makes up more than 70% of our global income,” Victor Chandler, owner of the international betting group of the same name, said this week.

“The sport has become hugely popular and fashionable with the younger generation, which is not surprising given the extensive television coverage given to games around the world. Horse racing now belongs to a past generation.”

Victor Chandler is in the process of setting up shop in SA after being granted a licence by the Western Cape Gambling and Betting Board last year.

This would allow the group to take advantage of the World Cup, which CEO Michael Carlton said would give the company a huge boost. “During the 2006 World Cup in Germany we turned over a nine-figure sum in pounds sterling and we expect the interest in this World Cup to be even greater,” Carlton said late last year.

David Attenborough, CEO of betting group Phumelela’s South African operations, said this week that soccer tote betting made up more than 10% of the group’s gross betting revenue, or about R60m, last year — up from zero in 2003 when the group introduced soccer pool betting to the South African market.

“Recent research indicates that there are over 20-million people that support soccer in SA, whereas there are only 1,5-million supporting and betting on horse racing,” said Attenborough. “While horse racing remains the focus of our business and we continue to invest in the industry, soccer betting is where we are seeing significant growth right now.”

Attenborough expected Phumelela’s gross betting revenue from soccer betting to reach 20% of its local gross betting revenue in the next few years.

While the World Cup would provide betting operators with a chance to cash in, Attenborough warned that the event is just four weeks long.

“While it will provide an opportunity to make good money, it will be a short-term financial boost to the betting industry.”

However, National Gambling Board acting CEO Thembi Moja said the World Cup would introduce new punters to soccer betting and was likely to lead to growth in the sector after the tournament. “I personally believe that once new punters have tried sport betting they will return in growing numbers.”

The national and provincial gambling boards are also discussing the possibility of issuing special licences allowing operators to set up shop at matches, as they do for other major events such as the annual Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City.

Moja said the board realised the importance of sports betting as far back as 2008, when it dropped taxation on all winnings from sports bets.

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Source: Business Day