Earlier this month, betting giant Betway owners Super Group made the major decision to pull all of their sportsbook betting operations out of the nine U.S. states they operated in. The owners reportedly weren’t happy with how long it would take to reach profitability and decided to cut their losses in the market. Here we’ll break down the full impact on both Betway and the market as a whole.
What Caused The Exit?
Betway is owned by Super Group for all operations under the brand in the U.S., but after a weak Q1 2024 performance with a $24 million loss in that market, they’ve had to rethink things. They were operating in Colorado, Pennsylvania and New Jersey along with others and formed one of the more significant options in the region. Planned operations in Illinois and Massachusetts were also scrapped as part of the withdrawal.
It’s possible that competitor success was also a major factor, as the main market force DraftKings reported a massive year-on-year growth of 53% from last year, with total revenue over $1 billion for the first quarter alone. Given that DraftKings have grown such a well-established customer base, pulling them away would be too tricky for Betway to accomplish even in the long term and the decision was made that it wasn’t worth the added investment.
Betway’s U.S. Future
While it is unlikely that we’ll see the Betway brand reenter the sportsbook market any time soon, the name isn’t completely disappearing from American shores. It also represents the iGaming and casino side of the company which operates independently in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and this side of the business should be unaffected and for the latter, any of the promo codes listed here connected to Betway should still operate as usual.
By comparison, Betway’s U.S. ventures have seen around a 31% growth for Q1 up to around $150 million in total revenue, so if anything they’ll likely be looking to expand their efforts to other states when the opportunity arises. Given how states are gradually opening up to online casinos in general, Betway could actually see significant growth in the market as they already have a significant foothold.
Betway Elsewhere
Both Betway and their parent company Super Group posted record global revenue of over $1.5 billion and overall the Q1 results have been an upturn. Casino has kept the U.S. picture in a net growth, while the group’s Africa and Middle East growth has been enough to drive the whole group upwards. In fact, Africa now generates a huge 38% share of Super Group’s total revenue, suggesting that while the U.S. still has the biggest share, they may be making efforts to untie themselves from the continent in general.
Overall, Betway’s departure from the U.S. sportsbook market is unlikely to cause any great upheaval in the area. What industry watchers may be looking for, however, is just how many resources will now be reinvested into other markets and what kind of growth that could inspire elsewhere.
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