Chapter 2: Market overviews
The NGB has witnessed a significant shift in patterns of horseracing over the years. Noticeable,
there is more inclination by punters to take bets on sports rather than horseracing. In addition, new
technologies have led to a shift from conventional betting to a more contemporary environment.
Players can also make sports wagers with SportStake, a sports lottery run by the state. The lottery
involves predicting the outcome of 12 consecutive football matches, and covers South African,
English, and other major pro football leagues.
The most popular sports bet on by South Africans tend to be those that are played by their national
team, or shown regularly on television. Therefore, US sports such as baseball, basketball, and American
football have very limited appeal in South Africa. Instead, cricket, rugby, football and golf lead the way.
The South African cricket team was the subject of a huge sports betting scandal in 1999/2000 when
the captain of the Proteas (the late Hansie Cronje) and several top players were implicated in match
fixing with Indian bookmakers.
Meanwhile, betting on rugby, particularly the Super 15 series that pits provincial teams from Australia,
New Zealand, and South Africa against one another in a league, is another favourite for local sports
bettors. Betting on rugby internationals is also brisk.
Wagering on football however is the number one pursuit of South African punters who bet on sports.
The reason for this is largely due to the introduction of a special bet called the Soccer 6 introduced by
the operators of horseracing totes. The Soccer 6 is similar to betting on pools in the UK and offers large
returns if bettors can correctly handicap the football card.
Soccer6.co.za
South Africa announced in early 2015 that it had no plans to legalise digital gaming despite calls to do
so (although sports betting is licensed).
76 Digital Sports Betting