MultiChoice Now Owns Almost Half Of BetKing

Seven months ago when South African entertainment company, Multichoice bought a 20% stake of Betking for a reported $100 million, it came as a surprise to many.

Last week, MultiChoice bought an additional 29% for $281.5m, a move that means it’s 1% shy of owning half of the sports betting and gaming company.

BetKing is the trading name of Blue Lake Ventures Limited, a pan-African sports betting and entertainment business with major operations in Nigeria.

The value of MultiChoice’s initial investment in BetKing was said to be worth more than $100 million. 

On this move, Multichoice is expanding the entertainment options available to consumers; investing in sports betting and gaming (BetKing) is a great way to expand their suite of entertainment services.

According to Multichoice: “Consumers have a growing abundance of entertainment options available to them. It is therefore important for MultiChoice to maintain its relevance and grow its share of engagement time and consumer spend by expanding its entertainment platform with a more comprehensive offering and a greater number of products and services.”

The Company added that pursuing an adjacency such as sports betting creates a natural extension to its video entertainment platform to further enhance its product offerings.

In other words, sport betting augments the company’s business given sports is a major revenue source.

Widely known as one of the leading sports betting sites in Nigeria, BetKing was founded by CEO Byron Petzer and Adekunle Adeniji, who once served as Bet9ja’s virtual product manager. 

As at December 2020, Betking grew it’s annual revenue by 42% from $54.7 million in 2019 to N77.9m and it’s net asset value stood at $100.2 million. 

Africa accounts for only 2% of global sports betting revenue.

According to Technavio, between 2020 and 2024, the sports betting industry is expected to grow by more than $134 billion, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 10%.