still to hit maturity, and the last few years have seen the introduction of legal casino games and slots, which has been a huge pivot for many of the operators. It can be frustrating at times as each province has different regulations, while some are not too strict, which makes new offers such a pain to get approved. Instead of a niche-based strategy, your site has content for sports betting, casino games and slots. Why did you decide to work in multiple verticals rather than a single vertical? We did a big pivot in our focus when COVID hit. The local operators did too, and they started getting more and more casino and slots games approved. There’s a huge appetite for casino games in SA, and the shift to a more balanced content offering has been great. We also launched bettingguide.co.za, which is going to be more focused on general betting content. Another benefit is that many different operators have exclusive games, so players need multiple accounts, which is what you want as an affiliate. Do you see a lot of crossover between casino games/slot players and sports bettors? Yes and no. The sports players generally don’t trust the casino games, in my experience, and don’t spend too much on them. However, casino players we find are happy to cross over and play horses and soccer. It’s already hard enough to convert a SA player to an online sports account, so getting them to play casino too is a tough problem. You and your “sidekick” Simon host a Best Sports Betting podcast that can also be seen on YouTube where your BSBZA page has a strong following of more than 21,000 subscribers. How did you build up such a strong following? Thanks! Yes, the channel has been a big focus. Initially, it started as a traffic-driving tool, but then it started to grow a following due to some of the slots and casino videos I did. Next thing I know, I’ve done over 20 two-hour live streams, and have an amazing community there. I think some of my biggest videos have close to 200k views, which I never imagined possible. changed when COVID struck. We are a small operation, a few full-time employees and a handful of good freelancers. Finding quality people is very difficult, as it needs a unique mix of skills. What is the South African market like for iGaming? How has it changed – if at all – in recent years? South Africa is a very interesting market, the interest is huge, but the player spend is very low. It’s South Africa is a very interesting market, the interest is huge, but the player spend is very low . . . It can be frustrating at times as each province has different regulations, while some are not too strict, which makes newoffers such a pain to get approved. 43 G P W A t i m e s . o r g
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